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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 


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A SKILLED WORKMAN 



By W. A. BODELL 

«* 

Author of "The Spiritual Athlete ” 


“For we are workers together with God" 



FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 

NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO 

Publishers <?f Evangelical Literature 



COPYRIGHTED, 1895, by FLEMING H. REVELL GO. 


INTRODUCTION. 


I have read with deepest interest the proof 
pages of “ A Skilled Workman/’ and if any word 
of mine can extend its influence or widen its dis- 
tribution I shall be glad. There is not a dull 
page in the book as I have read it. 

The Christian life is presented as it ever should 
be, in the most attractive form, and I hardly see 
how any young man can read the story without 
having a desire to reproduce the life of the lead- 
ing character, who was indeed a skilled work- 
man. 

George Axtel was simply consistent. He did 
what he could; he did it with his whole heart; 
his sincerity was apparent and his whole bearing 
was that of a true-hearted, loyal follower of Jesus 
Christ. 

Such a life always has power. It is not what 
we say, but what we are that tells. Any man can 
write a check, but only the man who has money 
in the bank can write one with any value. 

Given a consistent Christian character, one 
that in every little thing magnifies the Risen 
Lord, and the result is power always. 


INTRODUCTION. 


There is nothing in this book tuat even savors 
of fanaticism; not a sentiment advanced is im- 
practical. The scenes described may be repeated 
at any time and in any place. 

There is no joy in this world like that which 
comes as a result of doing the will of God. 

I commend the book to young people every- 
where. 

J. Wilbur Chapman. 

Alb any , N. Y. f October i6 ) 1895. 


CHAPTER I. 


On the banks of the Tippecanoe river, not far 
from where it pours its crystal waters into the 
Wabash, is a spot which for its beauty can not be 
surpassed. Had it not been for the curse of sin, 
an Eden more beautiful could scarcely be desired. 
The surface of the river looks as if it had been 
polished with diamonds. Its quietness was not 
disturbed, save by a fish now and again leaping 
up out of the water. The flowers were scattered 
along the banks as if carelessly dropped from 
heaven. The boughs of the trees are woven 
above you as if angels had taken the young twigs, 
when nature first put them forth, and intertwined 
and interlaced them at their will. The air seemed 
to be laden with life; the trees and flowers were 
loaded with beauty; the quiet river, leisurely flow- 
ing by, spoke of peace and comfort. 

Here in eighteen hundred and ninety-three, in 
the month of August, seven young men from the 
city not many miles away, tented together for a 
fortnight in comfort, recreation, and pleasure. 
Here they spent their time in communing with 
nature, in hunting and fishing, and lounging 
about. Here they were free; the restraints of 

5 


6 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


home, the care of store and office, the noise of 
street and shop did not bother them. When the 
time for their return into the city, to again resume 
their work, had come, they were loth to go. 
This place, where they had spent so many pleasant 
hours together, had a peculiar fascination to them; 
they seemed to be under a spell, which they did 
not want to have broken. 

The time for breaking camp had arrived. The 
night before they were leisurely lounging upon the 
bank of the river. The sun was fast sinking out 
of sight behind the woods back of them. The 
shadows had lengthened until only the cliffs across 
the river were tipped by the rays of the sun. The 
reflection of the trees along the river’s bank, and 
the scattered clouds flying in the sky, were re- 
flected in the water, revealing a picture never yet 
surpassed by any artist. 

Nature seemed to have been hushed to deepen 
the parting meditations of the young men as they 
sadly thought of breaking camp on the morrow. 
There seemed to be a distressing stillness, as the 
boys talked of the good time they had. Nothing 
could be heard but the sound of the still breeze 
among the trees, the rustle of the corn across the 
river, the barking of a dog at a distant farm- 
house, and the doleful roaring of a train in the 
distance, speeding its way northward; and their 
talk, broken every now and then by a merry 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 7 

laugh of some of the fellows as it rang out among 
the trees and echoed across the river. 

There had been a silence; neither of the boys 
had spoken for a minute: then said George Ax- 
tell, “ Well, boys, if we live till next year, why 
not come back here for the summer ? ” 

“ If we live ! ” replied Emmett Windom. 
u Why, George, you do not expect to die, do 
you? 

“ No, Emmett, but you can’t tell. Life is a 
very uncertain thing. I am sure no one would 
be more sorry than I, if we would not all be here; 
but you can not tell.” 

“ Say, boys, George is getting serious,” said 
Emmett Windom, “ and I would not be surprised 
if he would be converted before another year.” 

“ That would spoil our encampment, wouldn’t 
it ? ” said Frank Basil. 

“ I don’t see why,” replied Bert Moore. 

“ Because, if George ever gets converted, he 
will get converted all over; for whatever he does, 
he does with his whole heart; and I am afraid if 
he ever gets converted, he will not rest until he 
has us converted; and that would spoil the en- 
campment,” replied Frank Basil. 

u Well, what about coming back next year for 
a few weeks,” said Will Long impatiently, as if 
he were disgusted with the conversation in which 
they were engaging. 


8 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ Two weeks is not long enough,” said Ralph 
Hill. “ Why not make it a month ? ” 

“ That’s better,” replied the boys in unison. 

“ Well, now, it is understood that we will be 
back here next year; that is, if we live,” said 
George Axtell, with a twinkle in his eye. 

“ We don’t expect you if you are dead,” sar- 
castically said Emmett Windom. 

“ Oh, well, now, quit your fooling, boys, and 
what about coming back here next year?” asked 
Ernest Moore. 

“ Why, we will be back, of course,” replied 
several of the boys. 

“ That’s settled now, is it ? ” asked Emmett 
Windom. 

“ Yes !” replied all the boys in unison again. 

With this decision they arose to retire for the 
last night in the solitudes of the forest. As they 
bade each other good-night, George Axtell said: 
“ Boys, if we want to get back to town to-mor- 
row by noon, we must be up early in the morn- 
ing.” 

“ All right,” replied the boys. 

The next morning the boys were up early, and 
after breakfasting upon what they had left in the 
camp, they began to take down the tent and 
make preparations for leaving. The wagons 
which were to take them back to the city had 
come, and piling the tent and what they had left 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


9 


rather unceremoniously in the wagons, they 
were soon on their way to town, where, on Mon- 
day, they were to be at work at their respective 
places, with the exception of Frank Basil, who 
was preparing to enter college in September. 

For days and for weeks the boys when they 
met on the street and elsewhere would speak of 
their encampment, but on the eighth of Septem- 
ber Frank was to leave for college. On that day 
when the train left, some of the boys were at the 
train to bid him good-bye, and as they did so, 
George Axtell said, “ Frank, don’t forget us, 
and your engagement next summer.” 

“ I am sure I’ll not do that,” replied Frank, 
as he stepped on the moving train as it was pull- 
ing away from the depot, and was soon out of 
sight. 


CHAPTER II. 


George Axtell’s mother was a widow. George’s 
father had left them quite an estate. George’s 
mother worshipped him almost as an idol. There 
was nothing too good for George. His mother 
gave him everything that his heart could wish, 
and a good deal more than he ought to have 
had. He soon became to be a “ spoiled boy,” as 
we say. On account of his money and leisure, 
he began to associate with a class of young men 
which soon contaminated him. His mother 
realized it and did all in her power to keep him 
away from the bad influences of associates and 
of the street. She was an earnest, consecrated 
Christian woman. The early waywardness of 
George almost crushed her. She had faith in 
God, and believed that some time George would 
be saved; for it had been his father’s prayers 
while he lived, and his assurance before he died, 
but she could not think of him wandering away 
from home and becomeing a prodigal, both to her 
and to God, with all its sad consequences and 
experiences. To her there came this thought 
time and again, “ I know he will be converted, 
but why not now, why not now ? God can save 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


II 


my son speedily/ ’ So she began to pray for 
faith, for his speedy conversion. Day after day, 
night after night she prayed; but there seemed to 
have been no concern whatever on the part of 
George concerning his soul’s welfare. Had it not 
been for her faith in God, she would have ceased 
praying; but she faithfully kept on praying, claim- 
ing the promises of God. 

It was in January. Meetings were going on 
at the Presbyterian Church. The Lord seemed 
to be there in power. There came upon the 
Christians a deep concern for the unsaved. 
Many were converted. George’s mother had 
been attending the meetings every night, and 
became heavily burdened for the salvation of 
George. On Thursday night the pastor had 
given a very pointed talk on the wailing cry of 
David, “ No man cared for my soul.” He asked 
the parents whether that could be said by their 
children ? Said he, “ Father, mother, shall any 
of your children rise up at the judgment day and 
say, ‘ father and mother cared for my body, but 
they did not care for my soul. They cared for 
my temporal interests, but they did not care for 
my eternal welfare. They gave me a good edu- 
cation, but they cared not for my salvation.’ Oh, 
parents,” said he, “ shall any of you hear that cry 
at last from the lips of your own children ? ” 

These impressive questions went like swords 


12 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


to the heart of George’s mother. She decided 
that at the first possible opportunity she would 
talk to George about his soul. She began to 
think how she had frankly spoken to George 
about other things of far less importance than 
the salvation of his soul, and the neglect of this 
grave duty haunted her until she could not rest, 
until she had decided to speak to George about 
this supreme concern. 

Friday night was a cold, stormy night. The 
wind was fiercely howling about the premises; 
the snow was drifting upon the streets. George’s 
mother, on account of her delicate health, dared 
not risk going out that night. When George 
heard the wind howling without, and saw the 
fire glowing on the hearth, he was tempted to 
remain at home also. He picked up the evening 
paper and began to read. His mother was im- 
pressed that perhaps this was the time to speak 
to him about the salvation of his soul. She was 
just about to speak to him concerning this im- 
portant matter, when she halted and began to 
doubt. She began to think, “ Perhaps I had 
better not say anything to him now; I may offend 
him and drive him farther away than ever. Then 
I may make him shy so that I never will get an 
opportunity to speak to him.” She had yielded 
to the temptation not to speak to him, but some- 
thing kept saying: “ Why not speak to him ? 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


13 


Why not do it now ? Will there ever be a better 
opportunity ? Perhaps this is the only one I 
ever will have.” She prayed earnestly, that the 
Lord might open the way for her to speak to 
him that night concerning his soul’s eternal 
interest. 

George had been reading attentively for some 
time, and seemed very much interested in what 
he was reading. His mother had said nothing 
to him, yet her heart was almost breaking to do 
so; but it seemed as if her lips were sealed and 
she could not speak. She noticed that George 
seemed much interested, and presently she said 
to him, u What are you reading, George ?” 

“ I have been reading a very strange incident,” 
replied George. 

“ What was it, my son ?” 

“ A young man had decided to leave his home 
and go to the city. On his way he was over- 
taken by an old gentleman in a carriage, who 
asked him to come up and ride with him. The 
young man was glad for the opportunity, as it 
was quite a distance to the city. So he climbed 
up and thanked the man for his kindness. As 
they went along the kind old gentleman said to 
him, ‘ Well, my boy, where are you going?* 

“ ‘ I am going to. the city, sir,* replied the boy. 

“ ‘ And what are you going to do in the city ?* 

“ ‘ I want to become a clerk, sir.* 


14 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ ‘ So ? and what then ?’ 

“ ‘ Some time I hope to go into business for my- 
self ?’ 

“ 4 Well, that’s good; but what then ?’ 

“ 4 Well, I intend to make all the money I can, 
and lay by for a rainy day. * 

“ The gentleman waited a moment and then 
said with much earnestness, * But what then ?’ 

“ ‘Then,’ said the young man, ‘I propose to 
retire and enjoy life.’ 

“ The old gentleman seemed to get more serious 
than ever, and in a solemn tone of voice asked 
again, ‘ But what then ?’ 

“ ‘ Well,’ replied the young man, ‘ I suppose 
by that time I must go the way of all flesh. ’ 

“ Tears were flowing down the old man’s cheeks 
as he said again, < But what then ?’ 

u The young man seeing the object of the old 
man’s queer questions remained silent. 

“ i Oh, my boy/ said the kind old gentleman, 
“ 4 It is appointed for men once to die, and after 
that the judgment. What then ? What then ?* ” 

George looked up and saw that tears were 
standing in his mother’s eyes. “ What is the 
matter, mother ?” asked he. 

“ Oh, George, that is a very solemn incident to 
»> 

me. 

“ Well, I wouldn’t cry over it,” said George. 

“ It is not on account of the story that I weep, 
but it is on your account.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN I 5 

“ Why do you weep on my account ? ” asked 
George, looking at his mother in astonishment. 

“ I can not bear to think that ypu are unsaved, 
and are becoming harder in heart every day. 
The heaviest burden on my heart is the thought 
that you are not saved. I would be willing to 
make any sacrifice if you were only an earnest 
Christian.” 

u Why, mother, what makes you talk like that ? 
I do not see that you need to be so concerned about 
me. I do not know that I have done anything 
so awful. I do not feel that I am such a great 
sinner.” 

“ Oh, if you only felt that you were a great 
sinner, then I would not worry so; but it is your 
unconcern and indifference concerning your own 
salvation that distresses me. If you only felt 
that you were lost, then I would have some hope 
of your being saved. But you do not seem to 
care that you are lost.” 

“ Why, mother, what have I done that I should 
be lost?” 

“ You need not do anything to be lost, my son, 
you are lost already. 4 For he that believeth not on 
the Son of God is condemned already. 1 And the 
Bible says, 4 how shall we escape if we neglect so 
great salvation ? * You have never accepted this 
salvation, so you must have neglected it. Whether 
you neglect, or whether you reject, the conse- 
quences will be the same.” 


1 6 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ I can not see it that way, mother.” 

“ If you were sick, George, and the doctor 
would leave you a remedy that would cure you and 
you simply neglected to take it, would not the con- 
sequences be the same as if you refused to take 
it ? You remember the wreck down at the depot 
a few years ago, don't you, when so many lives 
were lost ? It was all on account of the switch- 
man neglecting to close the switch; he did not 
mean to wreck that train, for he almost lost his 
mind on account of it, but he simply neglected 
to close the switch; but the consequences were 
the same as if he deliberately had thrown that 
switch and wrecked that train. If you go on as 
you have been doing, neglecting the salvation of 
your soul, the consequences will be the same as 
if you deliberately rejected it. Do you not think 
so, George ? ” 

George remained silent for a moment in deep 
meditation, and then said, “ Well, mother, 
there is no doubt but that I ought to become a 
Christian, but there is no use of your talking to 
me now.” 

“ But, George, do you not expect some time to 
become a Christian ? ” 

“ Why, mother, what a foolish question that is 
to ask me. Do you think that I am so foolish as 
never to become a Christian ? ” 

“ No, George, I would hate to think that of 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


1 7 


you; but you seem to be very indifferent about 
the matter, and you are becoming more so every 
day, and I fear you may trifle too long. How 
long do you intend to put it off ? ” asked his 
mother. 

“ I do not know,” replied George. 

“ That’s the trouble; that’s the danger. Well, 
say you put it off ten years.” 

“ Ten years! ” exclaimed George in astonish- 
ment. “ Do you think I am foolish enough to 
put it off ten years ? ” 

“ I hope not, but you seem to be so indifferent 
that I fear you will.” 

“ But I hope I am not quite that indifferent, 
mother.” 

11 Well, then, say you put it off five years.” 

“ No! I can not put it off five years.” 

“ Well, will you put it off two years? ” 

George hesitated as if he might put it off two 
years. Then he looked up at his mother in sur- 
prise and said, “ Why, mother, do you want me 
to put it off two years ? ” 

“ That is for you to decide,” replied his mother. 

George looked sad, and then said, “ No, I 
do not think I ought to risk putting it off two 
years.” 

“ Well, then, say one year.” 

George hesitated a moment and then said, “ I 
suppose if I ever ought to become a Christian, I 
ought to become one now,” 


1 8 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ Yes, George,” said his mother with indications 
of emotion, “ ‘ Now is the accepted time, now is 
the day of salvation.’ ” ‘Boast not thyself of 
to-morrow, for ye know not — ’ ” She could not 
finish the sentence, but arose quickly and left the 
room. She went to her own apartments and 
there poured out her soul to God in prayer, hop- 
ing that her feeble words might bring George to 
a deep concern, and that he might soon be an 
earnest Christian. 

George sat there awhile, astonished, surprised, 
worried. He could not understand why his 
mother should speak so abruptly to him about 
his eternal welfare. He began to think of his 
godly father’s life, and how he promised him to 
become a Christian man, which some time he in- 
tended to do, but had not thought of doing it 
soon. He thought how his mother promised his 
father to bring him up to be a Christian boy' and 
young man. He felt that his mother had done 
all that she could do, but that he had not done 
his part. While he sat there waiting for his 
mother to return, many serious thoughts went 
through his mind. But when his mother did not 
return, he quietly arose, went to her room and 
hesitatingly opened the door to see whether his 
mother was asleep. He opened the door but a 
little ways when he saw his mother on her knees 
by the side of her bed engaged in earnest prayer. 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


19 


He quickly closed the door and went to his own 
room. He could hardly decide whether to retire 
or not. He was very much troubled; he sat on 
the edge of the bed for a time meditating. He 
remembered how his mother taught him to pray 
in his childhood, but for several years he had not 
opened his mouth in prayer. He had not named 
the name of God save in blasphemy. All these 
things seemed sorely to convict him ; but he had no 
desire to become a Christian. The thought came 
to him, why not pray that God might give me 
this desire. “ I have been grievously wrong, why 
not pray to God to make me right ?” He knelt 
down and prayed in a strange way: “ Oh, Lord, 
I have forgotten thee. I have been very indif- 
ferent about my own soul. I have grieved my 
mother and burdened her heart. I know I ought 
to be a Christian and fulfill the promise to my 
father. But, oh, God, my heart is so hard, and I 
have no desire to be a Christian. If there is 
anything in religion, help me to become religious. 
My heart is very rebellious, if thou canst give 
me a better heart, I wish you would, for my heart 
is getting harder and harder every day.” He 
felt that his prayer was a mockery. He thought 
the Lord did not hear him. He immediately 
arose and retired. He tried to sleep but could 
not. It seemed that the Lord, instead of giving 
him a desire to be religious, was convicting him 


20 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


of sin and making him feel as if he were lost to 
all eternity. Every trivial word that he had ever 
spoken, every sinful act that he had ever com- 
mitted, all the evil thoughts that he had ever 
thought, seemed to haunt him. He could neither 
sleep nor rest that night. He arose the next 
morning, having had very little sleep in the night. 
He shyly evaded his mother, fearing that she 
might say something to him. He worried through 
the day like a criminal going to the gallows, 
awaiting execution. He said nothing to his 
mother; his mother said nothing to him. Satur- 
day night he went down town as usual, but he 
found no comfort or satisfaction; so he came 
home early and retired. This was a favorable 
indication to his mother and she prayed that 
night more earnestly than ever. Tired and wor- 
ried out, he got some fitful sleep. When he was 
awake he thought of his miserable self, when he 
was asleep, he saw visions of despair. He 
awoke Sunday morning in a fitful, fretful mood. 
At the breakfast table, his mother said to him: 

“ George, you are going to church to-day, are 
you not ?” 

“ I don’t know; I guess so,” he replied in a sort 
of reproachful way, as if he were saying, “ I 
would have gone if you would not have asked me, 
but I don’t know whether I will go now or not.” 
The devil, however, tempted him and he decided 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


21 


not to go. But that day was the most miserable 
he had yet spent. It seemed to him as if he 
were standing on the brink of hell. Like many 
others, he had to have a glimpse of hell before he 
had any desire to go to heaven. Toward even- 
ing George said to himself: “ I am going to 
church to-night, and if God will help me I 
will give my heart to the Lord. I declare,” 
said he, “ I can’t stand this any longer, and 
if there is such a thing as getting right with 
God, I am going to get right with him.” At the 
supper table he said to his mother, “ I am 
going to church with you to-night.” 

His mother’s face lit up with an expression of 
joy, which George knew came from the depth of 
her heart, as she said, “ You can not imagine 
how glad I am that you are.” 

When the time for services came he was 
ready to go with his mother to the meeting. 
There seemed to be a strange atmosphere in the 
meeting, different from what was in the church 
when George was last there. The Lord by 
his Spirit was there in power. The fire of the 
Holy Ghost was there and had warmed things up. 
An irresistible power seemed to have hold of 
George from the very beginning of the meeting. 
During the meeting he was swept nearer and 
nearer to the cross, where he would find rest for 
his troubled soul. The Lord at last was an- 


22 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


swering his prayer. When the invitation was 
given for those to stand who desired to be- 
come Christians, George, in a manly way, was 
the first one to stand. His mother was overcome 
with joy. It was like an electric shock to the 
audience. No one was expecting George Axtell 
to become a Christian very soon. Had a cannon 
been fired off in the audience the surprise could 
not have been much greater. Others arose and 
expressed the same desire. In a small room down- 
stairs, where the pastor had invited all those 
who were earnestly seeking the salvation of their 
souls, George Axtell, with a number of others, 
gave his heart to the Lord, and dedicated his life 
to the Master. He did it faithfully, definitely, 
prayerfully, and he knew what he had done. He 
put the matter of his salvation into the hands of 
the Lord and he left it there. He appreciated 
the great gift of salvation, which the Lord 
had led him to accept. He went home that 
night and decided, by the help of the Master, to 
consecrate his life to the winning of other souls 
to Jesus Christ. He was too honest to know that 
he was saved and then not care that another is 
lost. He could not be on the way to heaven and 
not care that another was on the way to hell. 
He was determined that if salvation was anything 
to him that he would make it something to some 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


23 


one else. He was going to dedicate his life 
in humble service to the Lord, out of love 
for what the Lord had done for him. 


CHAPTER III. 


Almost a year had passed since the seven 
young men broke camp on the banks of the Tip- 
pecanoe. They were eagerly looking forward to 
the time when they would again pitch their tent 
at the same place for another season of recrea- 
tion and pleasure. They were anxiously await- 
ing the time when Frank Basil would return from 
school, so that they might plan for the summer’s 
outing. On the 27th of June he was to return. 
When the time arrived, Emmett Windom, Will 
Long, and Bert Moore went to the depot to meet 
him. 

“ We are very glad to see you,” said Emmett 
Windom, after the boys had greeted him. 

“ I am very glad to be here,” replied Frank, 
u and I am sure I will enjoy my vacation. I have 
been looking forward to the encampment with 
great anticipations.” 

“ So have we,” said Will Long, “ and we have 
been gradually preparing for it as best we could. 
All the old fellows will be with us again. But 
say ! Do you know that George Axtell has been 
converted ?” 

“ Converted !” exclaimed Frank Basil. “ Oh, 


*4 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


25 


surely, that can’t be. Well, I am sure if he is 
converted, he is converted thoroughly, for he 
never went into anything half-hearted.” 

“ You would think so if you heard him talk,” 
said Bert Moore. u He is almost a preacher. 
He has become very active in church work, and 
in the Young Men’s Christian Association. You 
ought to hear him talk in meetings; the boys like 
to hear him, and he seems to have marvelous 
power in converting the fellows.” 

“ I would like to see him try his hand on me, 
wittingly,” said Frank Basil. “ I hope he will not 
try and convert all of us and spoil the encamp- 
ment for us.” 

“ Well, you may just rest right there that he 
will,” reproachfully replied Emmett Windom. 
“ We will have a prayer meeting all the time.” 

“ Oh, well,” said Will Long, “ who cares for 
that ? His pious talk will not hurt me any. It 
won’t do to leave George at home.” 

•“ Oh, no !” replied Emmett. “ He can be our 
chaplain.” 

They had been walking along from the depot, 
up town, and as they passed the door of the store 
where George was clerking, he was waiting at the 
front to greet Frank. As they came near, he 
said, with his face beaming, “ Hello, Frank! 
I am glad to see you.” 

“ I am glad to see you, too,” said Frank. 
“ You look happy.” 


2 6 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ Why should I not be ? I have found a new 
joy since I saw you last.” 

“ So I have heard. I am glad to know it.” 

“ Are you, really, Frank ?” 

“ Yes. I think it is a great thing to be a 
Christian; if one can believe that way.” 

“ And he can believe that way,” said George, 
“ if he is willing to surrender to God. A sinful 
heart makes a skeptical head, you know, Frank.” 

“ Well, good-bye, George. We must be going. 
We will see you again.” 

“ Very well; but what about the encamp- 
ment ?” 

11 I will be with you, I am sure.” 

“ That’s good. Good-bye !” 

“ Didn’t I tell you ? It will be just like that 
during the whole encampment, if he is along,” 
said Emmett. 

“ Oh,” said Frank, “ who cares for that? We 
will have lots of fun arguing.” 

“ But he does not argue,” said Bert Moore; 
“ he just quotes scripture.” 

“ Well, I don’t believe much in scripture, so 
that will be all right.” 

“ I don’t think a little scripture would hurt us 
any,” said Ralph Hill, who had just joined the 
company. 

“ What is the matter with you, Ralph? I believe 
George has about converted you.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


27 


“ Well, I am sure that I would not mind being 
converted, if it gave me the joy it gave George. 
He has a source of joy that I haven't.” 

“ I am sure I do not want any of it in mine,” 
reproachfully replied Emmett Windom. 

“ Why not drop this prayer-meeting talk ? ” 
asked Will Long, as if he were disgusted with it. 

“ Yes ! I say so too,” joined Frank Basil. 

They stood silent for a moment, and then 
Frank Basil said, “ Well, boys, I must go home 
and see the folks, or else they will think I have 
gone back on them. When shall we meet to ar- 
range for the encampment ?” 

“We will have to be doing it soon,” said 
Will Long, “ for if we are going in July, the time 
is short.” 

“ Let’s meet Sunday afternoon to make ar- 
rangements,” said Emmett Windom. 

“No use talking of that,” said Ralph Hiil 
“ George Axtell will never meet at that time.” 

“ Neither will I,” said Bert Moore. 

Emmett looked at him with a sort of sar- 
castic grin, but said nothing. 

“ The only time that George can meet with 
us is Monday evening.” 

“ Can’t we meet without him ? ” said Emmett; 
“ Just as like as not he will turn it into a prayer- 
meeting, anyway. ’ ’ 

“ That’s mean for you to say that,” said Bert 
Moore. “ What have you against George ? ” 


28 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


u Oh nothing ! but I don’t like these converted 
folks. ” 

“ Well, shall we meet Monday night ?” asked 
Frank Basil, slowly walking away. 

“ It suits us,” said the boys. 

“ But where shall we meet ? ” asked Ralph 
Hill. 

“ You can meet in our office,” replied Will 
Long. 

“ But who will see George ? ” asked Ralph 
Hill. 

“ I can see him,” replied Bert Moore. 

With this arrangement the boys separated to 
meet Monday evening, to make preparations for 
the encampment. 

Monday evening came, and the boys were all 
present at Wright & Miller’s law office where 
Will Long was stenographer, with the exception 
of George, who had to be late on account of his 
duties at the store. 

“ It is probable George can not be with us 
this year,” said Bert Moore. “ He does not 
know whether he can get away from the store.” 

“ I am sure that I am not very sorry,” said 
Emmett, who did not like converted folks, and 
especially when they were as much converted as 
George. 

“ Well, if George can not go, I will not go,” 
said Bert Moore. 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


29 


“ If we are all going to back down, we might 
as well dismiss this matter at once,” said Will 
Long, in a discouraging tone of voice. 

Just then George came in with a smile on his 
face: “ Am I late ? I did not want to be, but I 
could not get away from the store any sooner.” 

“ I hear there is a probability of you not being 
able to be with us this summer,” said Frank 
Basil. 

“ Oh, yes! I have just gotten permission to be 
away at least three weeks this summer, begin- 
ning with the 15th of July.” 

“ That’s good,” said all the boys but Emmett 
Windom. 

“ Why not arrange to go into camp about the 
fifteenth, if that is the time when George can 
get away ?” asked Will Long. 

“ It will be as good a time as any,” said Frank 
Basil. 

They all agreed upon that time, and after mak- 
ing arrangements for transportation, and deciding 
what they were to take, they separated with the 
understanding that they were all to be ready to 
go into camp early on July 15th. 

As they were about to separate George said, 
“ Well, boys, I am going for a good time. I hope 
we may all have it.” 

After they had separated, Emmett Windom 
and Frank Basil were walking down street 


30 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


together. “ George is going to have a good time, 
he says. I declare, how he expects to have a 
good time I can not understand. And then, that 
is not the worst, he will spoil it all for us.” 

“ Say Emmett, what makes you say that ? I 
am sure I can have a good time when George is 
around, but you seem to despise him like a snake. 
I know he does not think about some things like 
I do, but he may be right for all that, and I re- 
spect him, if he lives up to what be believes. He 
is a mighty good fellow, and as sure as you live, 
there has been a mighty change in him since last 
year. There is a light in his eye and a smile on 
his face that I envy. I do not see why you do 
not like George, and why you have been saying 
such sarcastic things about him.” 

“ Frank, I am not going to say another word 
about him, and I am going to make the best of 
his being with us.” 

“ I am sure it will be good for him to be with 
us, and you need not make the best of it, it will 
be the best for us.” 

“ Well, if you think so, all right. I will say 
no more about it.” 

“ I wouldn’t,” said Frank. 

The question was dropped, and they soon sep- 
arated for the night. 


CHAPTER I V . 


The time between the meeting in Wright & 
Miller’s law office and the fifteenth of July, when 
the boys were to go into encampment, was spent 
in making preparations and completing arrange- 
ments. 

But the matter, which above all others con- 
cerned George Axtell, was how he might lead 
all the fellows, one by one, to Jesus Christ. 
Since the first encampment, there came into his 
life a new hope which transformed him. Know- 
ing what it meant to be saved, he could not 
think of his fellows as being lost. It was impos- 
sible for George Axtell to possess the great gift 
of salvation, and not care that others were still 
under the judgment of condemnation. It was 
impossible for him to drink of the cup of salva- 
tion and not offer it to others. How could he 
appreciate the great joy that had come to him, 
and then not try and bring it to others ? He 
could not think of the great sacrifice that Christ 
had made fo r him, without making some sacrifice 
for others. 

The yearning desire of his heart was, “ How 
may I win the boys to the Savior ?” Of this 


31 


32 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


only he thought, for this only he planned, for 
this earnestly he prayed. He went into camp 
for no other purpose than this. He prayed for 
love to constrain him, for grace to strengthen 
him, for divine wisdom to direct him. He would 
not think of going into camp, if it were not for 
this supreme concern. Time was precious to 
him, and he would not think of sparing it, save 
for the hope of saving his fellows. But he ap- 
preciated the sacrifice that Christ had made for 
him and he was willing to make some sacrifice 
for others. When he realized what Christ had 
done for him, he was willing to do something for 
others. 

He knew the boys were indifferent; but he be- 
lieved the Spirit of God could convict them. He 
well knew that some of them were inclined to 
trifle; but he believed they could be brought to 
seriousness. He knew that some of them were 
spiritually blind; but he believed that Christ 
could open their blind eyes. He knew that 
some of them were spiritually deaf; but he be^ 
lieved that Christ could unstop their deaf ears. 
He felt that some of them “ were dead in tres- 
passes and sin;” but he believed that the Savior 
could bring them back to life. 

He knew the characteristics of the fellows, and 
realized that “ he needed to be wise as serpents, 
and harmless as doves,” Most of his time till 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


33 


the 15th of July was spent in studying “ to be- 
come a workman that needed not to be ashamed, 
rightly divining the word of truth.” His prep- 
aration for the encampment was a daily drill 
with the sword of the Spirit. 

On the 15th of July, early in the morning, the 
boys were ready to go into camp. The clouds 
were heavy and threatened rain; but the boys 
thought they could get to their camping ground 
and pitch their tent before the rain. They got 
ready and started, but on their way a heavy 
storm came up and drenched the boys and their 
goods. When they reached the grounds their 
clothing was wet and dripping with rain, their 
food was damp and soggy. The rain kept pour- 
ing all day and night, so that it was a disagree- 
able task to pitch the tent and get comfortably 
located. 

“This is a terrible beginning,” said Ernest 
Moore. 

“ A poor beginning makes a good ending,” re- 
plied George Axtell. 

“ What fools we were to start this morning,” 
said Will Long, half in fun and half in aggrava- 
tion. 

“We must make the best of it now,” said 
Ralph Hill, in submission. 

“ Well, praise the Lord, anyhow,” joyously ex- 
claimed George. 


34 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“That’s good, George,” said Frank Basil. 
“ Keep us cheered up.” 

With his brow knit with anger, and his face 
contorted with pain, Emmett Windom had upon 
his tongue an oath, ready to let it go, as he 
pounded his thumb with the hatchet, attempting 
to drive a nail. 

“ Don’t swear, don’t swear,” said Frank, with 
a twinkle in his eye. 

“ I guess I would, if George wasn’t here.” 

“ I am glad you have that much respect for 
me,” kindly replied George. 

In the midst of a drenching rain and a fierce 
gale, they at last succeeded in getting up the tent 
where they took shelter from the rain. By even- 
ing it had turned chilly, and the rain was still 
pouring down. Everything was damp, cold and 
disagreeable. 

“ Well, this is a picnic, I daresay,” said Frank 
Basil. “ I guess we will have to sit up all night, 
for everything is too wet to go to bed.” 

“ We might put up a roost and sleep like the 
owl,” humorously said George. 

“ That’s good, George; look on the bright side. ” 

“ Why shouldn’t I ? No matter how dark and 
threatening the clouds may be, I look for the 
silver lining. No matter how overcast the heav- 
ens may be, I look for the breaking away of the 
clouds. Some people are born with indigo in 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


35 


their blood — they are always blue. Some people 
have a buzz-saw in their brain — they are always 
ripping things to pieces.” 

il How can they help it, when that’s their na- 
ture?” asked Will Long. 

“ We can be by grace what we are not by na- 
ture,” replied George. “ I can testify to that 
fact.” 

“ Well, what is a man to do when he is born 
cross grained ? ” 

“ Be born again.” 

“ Oh, well, now don’t begin preaching to us 
already,” said Emmett Windom. 

“ All right, pardon me. You know it is in me, 
and ‘ out of the abundance of the heart the mouth 
speaketh.’ ” 

“ There it is again. I declare, you can’t open 
your mouth unless out comes a passage of script- 
ure.” 

“ I am glad that you are able to distinguish 
scripture, Emmett. But you know I am like 
Peter, ‘ I can not but speak.’ ” 

“ Emmett,” said Frank Basil, “ you had better 
keep still, or you will have a sermon before you 
know it.” 

“ All right; I’ll keep still.” 

After a moment’s pause Will Long said, “ Who 
can tell us a good story to-night ? ” 

I can,” replied George, 


36 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ All right; let’s have it,” said several of the 
boys. 

“ Well, a certain man had two sons, and the 
younger of them wasn’t satisfied with his father’s 
watchful care. He could not endure his watch- 
ful eye. Perhaps he thought his father was an 
‘old fogy,’ and was too strict, so he said: 
‘ Father, give me the portion of goods that 
falleth to me and I will leave home/ ” 

“There it is again for you, Emmett,” inter- 
jected Will Long. 

“ Go on, go on, that’s a good story,” said all 
the boys but Emmett. 

“ No, I don’t want to tell it if Emmett does 
not want to hear it.” 

“ Yes, go on, I want to hear it,” said Emmett. 

“ When the father saw that the younger son 
was not satisfied,” continued George, “ and that 
he would do no good at home, he gave him the 
portion that belonged to him and he let him go. 
And not many days after he gathered all together 
and took his journey into a far country. No 
doubt he went so far that he thought his father 
would not come after him. He took all with him, 
so that there might be nothing left to bring him 
back. But he soon wasted his substance in riot- 
ous living. No doubt he was having a good time, 
for which he had left home. And when he had 
spent all (perhaps he thought of becoming rich); 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


3 7 


but when he had spent all, there arose a mighty 
famine in the land. There generally does. 44 The 
way of the transgressor is hard.” And he began 
to be in want, and he did not know what to do. 
So he went and joined himself to a citizen of 
that country — just like many backsliders who 
forsake their Father’s house and go back to the 
beggarly elements of the world and become 
slaves of Satan. Perhaps he thought that the 
strange master would treat him royally, but he 
sent him out to feed swine. The devil, boys, 
never makes, but unmakes a man. He never 
establishes, but overthrows him. He does not 
show them the end of their journey from the be- 
ginning for fear that they might revolt and leave 
him. He keeps the swine behind the hill until 
the dicker is made and then he sends them out to 
feed them. The old devil is pretty sly, isn’t he ? 
He pats a man on the back while he is putting a 
rope around the neck. He makes men believe 
that he is a good master until he has them fast, 
and then he becomes a cruel tyrant. He may let 
you sit down with him to his own table several 
times until you have joined yourself to him, but 
then he sends you out to associate with swine. 
You may think that in his service there is plenty, 
but at last he will bring you down to husks. He 
shows you a cup of pleasure but conceals the 
awful dregs. He sent him out to feed swine, 


38 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


and he feign would have filled himself up with the 
husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave 
unto him. The devil becomes so tyrannic some- 
times that he will not even let you have the 
dregs. And when he came to himself; he had been 
beside himself, and led on and on by Satan, he 
had gone mad. He had been under the hand of 
the devil, but he did not know it until he began 
to bear down so heavy that it was about to crush 
him. Some men do not know that they are un- 
der the thumb of the devil until he begins to 
press them hard; until they have come to the 
dregs; until they have come to the end of their 
string. Oh, it is a shame, isn’t it, that some men 
must get down and wallow with the swine before 
they will have a desire for the Father’s house. It 
is an awful thing that men must go so near hell 
before *they will realize their condition and turn 
back to heaven. It is awful that some men 
must be brought to husks before they will desire 
a father’s table. 

“ Such must have been the experience of this 
young man. When he came to himself, he said: 

‘ How many hired servants of my father have 
bread enough and to spare, and I perish with 
hunger ? I will arise and go to my father, and I 
will say unto him, Father I have sinned against 
heaven and before thee and am no more worthy 
to be called thy son; make me as one of thy 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


39 


hired servants/ He had learned a lesson, hadn’t 
he, that after all it was better to be at home 
in a father’s house, with all its restraints, than to 
be a slave of a foreign master, with all its boasted 
liberty ? That it was better to be a servant of 
his father even, with plenty to eat, than to be a 
slave of a foreign master feeding on husks. This 
is what every backslider must learn — that it is 
better to be a servant of the Lord, than to be a 
slave of the devil. That it is better to be a 
Christian, with all its restraints, than to be a 
sinner with all its boasted liberty. ‘ And he 
arose and came to his father.’ ” 

“ That’s a splendid story,” said Frank Basil; 
“ but it is too long. You will have to leave the 
rest of it till some other time, George.” 

“Well, I should say so,” said Emmett Win- 
dom. 

“ I am going to roost,” said Will Long, as he 
arose and began to make preparations to retire. 

“ Very well,” said George; “ I do not want to 
tire you the first night.” 

“ I am sure you did not, but it is time to re- 
tire.” 

“ Well, boys,” said George, “ let’s just have a 
word of prayer, before we go, will you ? ” 

“All right,” said some of the boys. But it 
was a new thing in the camp and it surprised 
them very much. Emmett Windom looked at 


4 o 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


Frank Basil with an expression on his face as if 
he were saying, “ I told you so.” But they all 
knelt down and George led them in a short, happy 
prayer. 

As George arose from his knees he noticed 
that Ralph Hill seemed moved, and that there 
was a moisture in his eye. He said nothing to 
him, but he also retired, and as he lay there he 
prayed earnestly that the Lord would apply the 
story of the prodigal son to Ralph’s heart, for he 
knew that he had at one time been a professor, 
but had become a backslider. As the boys lay 
there trying to go to sleep, they thought “ How 
wonderful is the change which has come over 
George.” But soon they dismissed the story and 
the prayer from their minds and all were asleep, 
but Ralph, who lay awake the greater part of the 
night tossing to and fro upon his couch. 


CHAPTER V. 


The strong wind that kept blowing all night 
rent the clouds from the heavens, and drove them 
away, so that the morning dawned bright, but 
chilly. The boys had all left the tent and were 
out in the sunshine, catching its warm rays. 
George Axtell, Ralph Hill and Bert Moore were 
sitting on a log near the bank of the river sun- 
ning themselves and enjoying the warm rays of 
the sun as they were reflected from the water into 
their faces. 

George was quietly singing: 

“ Oh happy day that fixed my choice, 

On Thee, my Savior and my God.” 

“ You seem to be happy this morning, George, ” 
said Ralph Hill. 

11 Why should I not be ? You are missing the 
greatest joy of your life in not being a Christian.” 

“ It seems so, to be about you,” said Bert 
Moore. 

“ I tried to be a Christian once,” said Ralph 
Hill, “ but I gave it up. For me there is nothing 
in it.” 

“ You tried what ?” asked George. 

“ Why, to be a Christian.” 


41 


42 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ You can’t be a Christian by trying. As long 
as you are trying to be a Christian, it is very evi- 
dent that you are not one. So long as Noah was 
trying to get into the ark, it is very evident that 
he was not in the ark. If you are trying to be a 
Christian, then you are not yet one.” 

“ Well, George, if we are not to be Christians 
by trying, how then can we be Christians ?” 

“ It is not try, but trust. And whenever you 
stop trying and try trusting, then there will be 
some hope for you, Ralph. If I had to lead a 
Christian life by trying to do this and trying to do 
that, then I would give up just as you did. To 
lead a Christian life is to implicitly trust Christ, 
not only to be saved, but also to be kept. The 
grace that saves a man, is also sufficient to keep 
a man; if it does not keep him, I doubt very 
much whether it saves him. Noah was saved, 
not by trying to swim the flood, but by trusting 
to the ark. You will be saved, not by fighting 
the condemnation that is upon you, but by faith 
getting into Christ. The first-born in Egypt were 
spared, not by fighting the death angel, but by 
putting the blood on the door-posts. Your sins 
will be pardoned, not by fighting them, but by 
putting them under the cleansing blood of Jesus 
Christ. Ralph, if you ever are saved you must 
believe that Jesus Christ can save you, and then 
implicitly trust him to do it. The trouble with 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


43 


you was, that you tried to swim the current alone, 
and when you were exhausted, then you gave 
up. You tried to fight the battle in your own 
strength, and when you were about to be over- 
come then you beat a hasty retreat, and gave up 
in despair.' ' 

“ Do you mean to say, George, that we need 
do nothing to be saved?" 

“ We can do nothing, Ralph. So long as you 
think that you can do something, or that you 
must do something, you are not yet saved. Be- 
ing saved is not what we can do, but trusting to 
what Christ has done. His salvation is complete. 
There is nothing left for us to do. When He 
gives the invitation, He says, ‘ Come, for all 
things are ready.' When He provided salvation 
for the whole world, He said, ‘ It is finished.’ ” 

“ But will we not have to serve the Lord to be 
saved ?" 

“ No. We serve the Lord, not to be saved, 
but because we have been saved. Salvation is 
not of works, but works is of salvation. When 
you once fully trust Christ to be saved, then he 
will save you; for he has promised to do it. ‘ For 
all the promises in Him are Yea, and in Him 
Amen.’ And then knowing that you are saved, 
by trusting to the merits of Christ’s death upon the 
cross, you will no longer work to be saved, but 
because you have been saved. The love of Christ 


44 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


which you will then know, will constrain you to 
freely do those things, because you have been 
saved, which before you thought you had to do 
in order to be saved.” 

“ I do not understand you, George. You say 
there is nothing that we can do or can try to do 
to be saved, and yet you say we must trust him.” 

“ Well, if you call trusting doing anything, 
then we must do that. But trusting is not doing 
anything; it is letting Christ do it. So long as 
you try to trust, it is very evident that you do not 
trust. Trusting is just taking our hands off of 
ourselves and throwing ourselves entirely over 
onto the Master. To be saved, is by faith to ap- 
propriate God’s great gift of salvation, which he 
has provided by his death upon the cross, and 
then knowing that you have accepted this great 
gift of salvation, and that you are saved, you 
will do all that you can do for the Master. Yea, 
you will do far more for him, now that you are 
saved, than before you tried to do in order to be 
saved. To serve the Lord to be saved is slavery; 
to serve Him because you have been saved is lib- 
erty. The trouble with you, Ralph, is that you 
4 get the cart before the horse/ and so long as you 
do that you will not make much progress in your 
Christian life. If I had to be saved by doing 
this or that, then I would give up too, for there 
is nothing that I can do to be saved.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


45 


“ Why is it then, George, that you are so active 
in Christian work, and seem to be serving the 
Lord with all your heart ?” 

“ Oh, Ralph! what little I do for the Master, 
I do, not to be saved, but because I have been 
saved. I can not help but serve the Lord, out 
of thankfulness for His great gift of salvation. If 
I did not serve him it would be very evident that 
I was not saved.’ ’ 

“ That is very strange doctrine to me, George, 
I can hardly believe you.” 

“ I don’t want you to believe me. Are you will- 
ing to believe the Word of God for it ?” 

“ Yes! If you can give me satisfactory evi- 
dence from God’s Word that what you say is 
true, then I will believe you.” 

“ I will only be too glad to give you the Word 
for it. Here, you take my Bible and read the 
passages as I will give them to you.” 

“ Why, George, I am afraid you have me now, 
for it is very doubtful whether I can find them.” 

u You don’t know where to find them!” replied 
George in astonishment. 

“ No! the Bible is rather a new thing to me.” 

“ No wonder you are a backslider. Well, I will 
read them to you, and you listen. In Proverbs 
iii: 5, it says: ‘Trust in the Lord with all thine 
heart, and lean not to thine own understanding.* 
Then in Isaiah xxvi: 3, 4, we read: ‘Thou wilt 


46 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed 
on thee. Trust in the Lord forever; for in 
Jehovah is everlasting strength.' To have our 
minds stayed on Him, is to constantly trust Him. 
Then Jude i: 24, is a very precious verse to me: 
‘ Now unto Him who is able to keep you from 
falling, and to present you blameless before the 
presence of His glory with exceeding great 
joy.' It is not a question whether He is able to 
keep you, but whether you will implicitly trust 
Him and let Him keep you. The Lord would 
have His hands full trying to keep a man whose 
will was not surrendered to God’s will and who 
was not trusting Him to be kept. If you will 
give yourself entirely over into His hands He will 
keep you, and no man will be able to pluck you 
out of His hands. Let the Lord get hold of you 
and He will keep you, but if you only take hold of 
the Lord you can let go at the first temptation 
and fall. But you let the Lord take hold of you 
and ‘ no man will be able to pluck you out of His 
hands.' Then again in Romans vi: 23, we read: 

‘ The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God 

IS EVERLASTING LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR 
Lord/ What do you do with a gift when it is 
offered to you ? You don’t strive for it, you don’t 
work for it, you don’t agonize for it, you don’t 
merit it, but what do you do ? ” 

“ Why, I suppose, George, that I would just 
take it." 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


47 


u Yes, and what else ?” 

“ Why go on rejoicing that I have it. ” 

“ And what else ?” 

“ Why, love and thank the giver for it.” 

“ Just so, Ralph; and when you once by faith 
accept God’s great gift of salvation, you will love 
and serve Him for that great gift. If you do not 
love Him and serve him gladly then it is very evi- 
dent that you have not accepted His great gift of 
everlasting life. Then in Romans v: i — ” 

“ Well, George, you need not read any more; 
that ought to be sufficient to convince any man.” 

“ Will you then right now, fully, implicitly 
trust Christ to be saved ?” 

“ Indeed, I would like to be a Christian, but I 
have lived so far away from God, and have been 
such a miserable backslider, that I am afraid 
that God would not receive me.” 

“ That’s a good way to feel, Ralph. I think 
there is some hope for you. Unless you feel your- 
self unworthy, God will not deem you worthy. 
When the prodigal of whom I told you last 
night had gotten to the end of his string and came 
to himself and saw his woeful condition, then 
there was some hope for him. Until you come 
to yourself and realize your awful sin and how 
you have grieved your Heavenly Father, there 
will not be much hope for you. But the moment 
you come to yourself and see your miserable self 


48 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


and become penitent for your sin as did the 
prodigal and then come to God and ask forgive- 
ness, there will be no doubt then about His re- 
ceiving you. I did not get to finish my story of 
the prodigal son last night; but you remember 
when he arose and came to his father, the 
father, when he was yet a great way off, ran out 
to meet him and fell on his neck and kissed him 
and welcomed him back home again. The 
father did not let him stand without and plead 
and plead, just to be taken back as a hired 
servant. The father did not chide him for his 
wanderings, or throw his sin into his face, say- 
ing, 4 Ah, yes, when you got to the end of your 
string, then like a hungry dog you come back for 
the last bone. When you have squandered your 
inheritance, then you come back to your father’s 
house. When you have had your fill of the 
bondage of a cruel master, then you are willing 
to stay at home with your father. ’ Oh, no, he 
never said these words; but when the son began 
to make his confession and say, ‘ I have sinned 
against heaven and before thee, and am no more 
worthy to be called thy son, make me as — ’ 
and there he stopped. He never finished that 
sentence, his father cut him short by saying, 

‘ This is my son who was lost and is found. 
Bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and 
put a ring on his hands and shoes on his feet; and 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


49 


bring forth the fatted calf and kill it; and let us 
eat and be merry. ’ He was glad to take him 
back again as his own son. And, Oh, Ralph,” 
said George with much earnestness, “ you may 
have gone far from Him, but if you are penitent, 
and are willing to return and confess your sin, 
then before the confession is made he will receive 
you. I am not afraid about him receiving you, 
but I am afraid that you will not return. When 
the Heavenly Father sees the first faint desire in 
your heart to return, he will cherish it with his 
love and try to win you back. But if you are not 
willing to return he may leave you alone and let 
you go into the depth of the prodigal with its 
awful experiences. If you go on you will at last 
come to utter spiritual want and woe. For the 
Bible says, ‘ Thine own wickedness shall cor- 
rect thee, and thy backsliding shall reprove thee; 
know, therefore, and see that it is an evil thing and 
bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, 
and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord 
God of hosts.’ ” 

“ I have reached that point now,” said Ralph, 
with tears in his eyes. 

“ Well, then, why not say, as did the prodigal, 
‘I will arise and go to my father,’ and then 
arise and go ?” 

Ralph bit his lips, but said nothing. 

George remained silent for a moment, expect- 


So 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


ing an answer from Ralph. But when he made 
no answer he said, “ Ralph, do you know that 
there is not one harsh word in the entire Bible 
for the penitent backslider ? But all through it 
there rings this glad word, ‘ Return, return. 
Return unto me and I will return unto you. 
Return, Oh, backsliding Israel, return, and I will 
heal your backsliding. Oh, Israel, return unto 
the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thy in- 
iquity/ 

“ Think of Peter. You remember what a 
miserable backslider he was; how a short time 
before the Savior’s crucifixion he said with oaths 
and curses that he did not know the Lord. And 
what aggravates his backsliding, is the fact that 
he had been with the Savior during his entire 
ministry. He had seen him heal the sick, make 
the blind to see, and the lame to walk, and the 
deaf to hear; he had seen Him raise the dead, 
and he had heard that voice from heaven which 
said ‘ This is my beloved Son in whom I am 
well pleased.’ But Peter went back upon Him 
and denied that he knew Him. Oh, what an 
awful sin it was, what a terrible backslider he 
became! Christ was crucified, He was buried, 
and the third day He arose from the dead. To 
the women who came early in the morning to 
the sepulcher there was given this blessed mes- 
sage, ‘ Go tell the disciples and Peter, that I 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


5 1 

will see them again in Galilee; as I said unto 
them.' Why did he say 4 go tell the disciples and 
Peter ’ ? Wasn’t Peter one of the disciples, and 
would he not have been included if he had said 
‘ Go tell the disciples ?’ Why did he so specify 
Peter ? Why did he not say ‘ Go tell the disci- 
ples and John or and James ? 9 Ah, it was Peter 
who needed that loving message. He could not 
think of Peter, his chief disciple, becoming a back- 
slider. He could not think of him who had once 
confidentially said, ‘ Thou art the Christ, thou 
art the Son of God.* So he sent His loving mes- 
sage to him to restore him to his former place of 
joy. And so also he is anxious for you. You 
are grieving him more by your wandering than 
the ninety and nine that went not astray. If 
you only realized how anxious was the Savior 
for your return, you would not hesitate longer 
but you would at once return to Him and be re- 
stored. You may know the very moment that he 
accepts you, and that is the very moment when you 
return to Him, for He said, ‘ Him that cometh unto 
me I will in no wise cast out.’ Will you come ? 
Will you return just now ? Will you say as the 
prodigal said, < I will arise and go to my father 9 ? 
As that father received the prodigal, so your 
Heavenly Father will receive you. Will you 
come to Him ? Come to Him right now. Why 
will you go further on in sin and rebellion and 


52 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


break His loving heart, and grieve His forgiving 
spirit, when He is yearning for your return and 
is patiently and anxiously looking for your home- 
coming ? ” 

Ralph remained silent while George was 
earnestly pleading with him. George waited a 
moment and then said: “ Will you kneel down 
here with me and pray that you may be made 
willing to return ? ” 

Ralph shook his head very emphatically as he 
said “ Not now.’' 

“ So you are not willing to return to him and 
be forgiven for having so sorely grieved him ? 
Why will you not kneel down and ask him to 
forgive you ? If you do he will forgive you, for 
the Bible says, 1 If we confess our sins, he is 
faithful and just to forgive us our sins. * ” 

“ Oh,” said Ralph, “ I hate to come to Him 
now when I have grieved Him so long.” 

“ But do you not know, Ralph, that you are 
hurting Him a thousand times more by staying 
away from Him, than if you would just come 
back to Him ? The prodigal could not grieve 
his father by coming home to him, but, oh, how 
he would have grieved him by longer having 
remained away from him. Will you not now 
kneel down and say, Lord, I will return to thee, 
and henceforth follow thee, and do it as you 
say it ?” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


S3 


Ralph hesitated a moment, as if he were hav- 
ing the greatest struggle of his life, and then he 
said very decidedly, “ I will.” And as he did it 
God seemed to pour into his soul the blessed as- 
surance that He had accepted him, and he 
arose from his knees rejoicing that he was a 
child of God. 


CHAPTER V I . 


Bert Moore, who greatly admired George 
Axtell and his Christian spirit, down in his heart, 
wished that he might also find the secret of 
his joy and peace. He also noticed that Ralph 
Hill, who frequently sneered at religion, and had 
said that “ there was nothing in it, that it was a 
mere sentiment, ” now seemed transformed, and in- 
stead of sneering at the things which George had 
to say, now endorsed them, and would help 
to defend him against the sarcasm of the other 
boys. Then, too, Ralph Hill, the year before, 
and just a day before, was sullen and sarcastic 
toward religion, but now seemed happy and con- 
tented. In his eyes there seemed to be a 
new light, in his heart there was a different 
spirit, from his lips there came a different song. 

Bert Moore had frequently thought that if 
there was anything in religion that he would like 
to have it, but now he was convinced that there 
was something in religion and he wanted it. He 
noticed that there was something that drew 
George and Ralph together that did not draw 
him; he saw between them a sympathy that 
did not touch him; he saw a motive in them that 


54 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


55 


did not move him. If he did not yearn to be just 
like them he did desire to know the secret 
that made them what they were. 

Then he had been sitting by when George 
spoke to Ralph those wonderful words which led 
him to Jesus Christ as his Savior. They were a 
revelation to him as well as to Ralph. When he 
thought of them he yearned more and more to be 
a Christian. 

One day passed, and then another, and all the 
while he was troubled. The marvelous words of 
George, and the seeming change in Ralph 
haunted him. Often he had thought of being a 
Christian, now he yearned to be one with a yearn- 
ing that distressed him. He had imagined many 
difficulties in the way, now he wished they were 
out of the way. He thought George could help 
him if he only asked him, but because of timidity 
or pride he did not ask him. “ If they are 
saved,” he would say to himself, “ why do they 
not say something to me about the salvation 
of my soul ?” 

Though George or Ralph had said nothing 
to him about becoming a Christian, yet they had 
earnestly prayed for him and were waiting for an 
opportunity to speak to him. The opportunity 
seemed a long time coming. George decided to 
make an opportunity, if possible. 

He was sitting alone in the tent one day 


56 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


meditating how he might lead all the fellows 
to Christ. His success with Ralph and the 
seeming concern of George encouraged him. “ If 
I only could get an opportunity to speak to Bert 
Moore,” he said, “ I believe he would be con- 
verted, for I know that he has been thinking 
about the matter.” 

Frank Basil, Emmett Windom and Will Long, 
who had become somewhat attached to each 
other, had taken the boat and gone down the 
river. 

George arose and went to the door of the tent 
to see what had become of Ralph Hill and Bert 
Moore. In the distance, on a little knoll, he 
saw them reclining under the shade of a tree. 
“ I am going over there, too,” said he. “ Perhaps 
that is the best opportunity I will ever have 
of talking to Bert.” He straightway went to 
where the boys were, and as he drew near Ralph 
said: 

“ I am glad you have come, George. I have 
been talking to Bert about becoming a Christian, 
and he says he would like to be one, but there 
seem to be difficulties in the way, and it seems 
dark and mysterious.” 

“ It is the simplest thing in all the world,” 
straightway replied George. “ Why, the way is 
so plain, that a man though a fool need not err 
therein.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


57 


“ Then I must be a fool,’' said Bert; “ for it 
does seem to me the most mysterious thing in all 
the world. If I just knew how to become a 
Christian, I am sure that I would do it.” 

“ I think, Bert,” said Ralph, “ the simplicity 
of the matter staggers you, just as it did me.” 

“ I am sure that is what is the matter,” said 
George. “ If the Lord required some great 
thing of Bert, he would be willing to do it, 
rather than do the simple thing he tells him to 
do.” 

“ I am sure, George, I am willing to do almost 
anything to be saved, if I only knew what it was 
that I ought to do.” 

“ Well, Bert, if you are willing to become a 
Christian, I am sure I can, by the aid of the 
Bible, show you the way.” 

“ If I know my own heart,” said Bert, “ I am 
willing; but it seems as if the Lord does not save 
me.” 

“ What do you mean, Bert ? Do you expect 
the Lord to come down, and pick you up and 
bodily carry you into the Kingdom of Heaven ? 
Or do you expect the Lord to come down and 
whisper in your ears — that you are saved ? ” 

“ I scarcely know what I do want, save that I 
want to be saved, and I want to be sure that I 
am saved.” 

“ You may be sure,” said George. u You may 


58 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


know the very time when, and the very place 
where you were saved. You may know the very 
time when your sins were pardoned, and when 
you became a child of God.” 

“ I would give a good deal, George, if I only 
knew whether I was saved, and I would not care 
much about the time or place,” said Bert, with 
a sigh. 

“ Yes ! but you must be converted some time, 
you must be converted some place, and it is a 
source of consolation to know just where one has 
been saved. It becomes a milestone in their 
life, back of which it is hard to go.” 

“ Well, how may I know the time and place, 
George ? ” 

“ Do you believe the Bible,” asked George. 

“ Most certainly I do,” replied Bert. 

“ Will you take its promises and statements 
concerning your salvation ? ” 

“ I do not see why I shouldn’t.” 

“ If you will take the testimony of the Word 
concerning your salvation, then I can help you; 
but if you will cling to any preconceived notions 
of your own how you want to be saved, or how 
you ought to be saved, or if you are depending 
upon your moods and feelings to be saved, then 
I can not help you.” 

“ Why, George ! you do not mean to say that 
a man can be saved without feeling, or without a 
wonderful experience, do you?” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


59 


“ Why, Bert, feeling is not a condition of sal- 
vation. It is only mentioned twice in the Bible 
and in no instance in connection with salvation 
or the assurance of salvation. We can not con- 
trol our feelings; then because we have not a 
certain kind of feeling, are we to be lost ? ” 

“ But, George, do you not feel that you are 
saved ? ” 

“ I know it,” emphatically replied George. 

“ How can you know it if you do not feel it ? ” 
“ I feel I am saved because I know it, but I do 
not know it because I feel it. There is only one 
way in which we may know that we are saved.” 
“ And what is that, George ? ” 

“ The only way in which I can be sure of my 
salvation is from the direct testimony of the Bible. 
I don’t want any other testimony. That is good 
enough for me. 'A faithless generation seeketh 
after a sign.’ I don’t want a sign. I believe 
God’s Word for my salvation. If you will not be- 
lieve God’s Word for the assurance of your salva- 
tion I doubt, Bert, whether you would believe if 
one rose from the dead. I would not believe, I am 
sure, for hundreds might arise from the dead, but 
that would be no ground of assurance that I was 
saved. You might have many experiences, and 
waves of feeling, but that would be no ground of 
assurance of your salvation. I can trust God’s 
word fo t my salvation, when I can not trust my 


6o 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


moods and feelings and experiences. My moods 
and feelings are as changeable as April weather, 
now sunshine, and then shadow. My Christian 
life would be very changeable if I looked within 
for assurance of my salvation. But I look away 
from self to Christ. My assurance is just like 
himself, ‘ the same to-day, yesterday and forever . 9 
I have never had any feeling regarding the matter. 
I am glad I haven’t had, for if I would have had 
some wonderful feeling, I would always have de- 
pended upon that feeling instead of fixing my faith 
in Christ.” 

“ Why, George! Why is it, then, that some 
have such wonderful feeling when they are con- 
verted ? 99 

“ Feeling is sometimes a result of conversion, 
but it is never a condition of it,” replied George. 
“ We may have great feeling and not be saved, 
or we may have no feeling and be saved.” 

“ That is so,” said Ralph Hill. “ I can testify 
to that myself. One time I was under the influ- 
ence of a powerful meeting and my emotions were 
terribly stirred. Wave after wave of feeling 
swept down over me. I, like many others, had 
been looking for an experience just like that, and 
I came away from that meeting saying to myself: 
‘ Thank the Lord I am saved at last. I am con- 
verted now.’ But in a few days all that feeling 
was gone, all those waves of emotion had sub- 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


6l 


sided, and I was let down deeper into despair 
than ever. I wondered what had become of that 
which I called conversion. I gave up in disgust. 
I became skeptical. I said, 4 It is all a delusion.’ 
I threw the whole matter of religion overboard 
and gave it no more concern until the other day 
when George began talking to me. I realized 
that there was some joy in the lives of some 
Christians, but I never knew the secret of that 
joy until George led me into it the other day by 
giving me some precious promises. I stepped out 
upon them and I am standing there yet.” 

“ It is so every time,” said George. “ I am 
sure that I can not trust my feelings. If I would 
have had a great experience when I was con- 
verted I believe I would discard it, for I want 
something better than that to rest my salvation 
upon. 

“ I would not wait for feeling. The Lord often 
converts a man in an entirely different way from 
that in which he wants to be converted. If a 
man wants to ride into the kingdom of heaven on 
a hobby, just as like as not the Lord will make 
him get down and walk. If a man wants to be 
converted by going to the mourners’ bench, shout- 
ing hallelujah, just as like as not the Lord will 
convert him without a word. If a man wants to 
be converted decently and in order, just as like as 
not he will never be converted until he goes to 


62 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


the mourners’ bench and shouts hallelujah. If a 
man wants to be converted like his grandfather 
was, as like as not the Lord will convert him in a 
way unheard of before. If a man wants to be 
converted in a meadow, as like as not the Lord 
will convert him in a haymow. If a man wants 
to be converted in the woods, like as not the 
Lord will convert him in a saw-mill. Time, place 
and manner is not conversion. Conversion is a 
fact that you have forsaken your sin, and trusted 
to the merits of Christ’s death upon the cross for 
the pardoning of your sin.” 

“ Why, George, you confuse me, and you 
make me distrust myself.” 

“ That is just what I want to do; for so long 
as you depend in the least upon self, or your 
moods and feelings, so long you do not implicitly 
trust Christ. You are saved not by what you can 
do but by what Christ has done. You can not 
do one single thing to be saved, save to trust to 
what Christ has done.” 

“ But I do not see it in that way, George.” 

“ It does not matter how you see it, or how I 
see it. What does the Word of God say about 
it?” 

“ All right. I said I would believe His Word, 
and if you can show me by the Bible that you 
are right, I will believe it.” 

“ Very well. In John iii: 16, we read: ‘ For 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


63 


God so loved the world that he gave his only be- 
gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him 
should not perish but have everlasting life. ’ Do 
you believe that ?" 

“ Why, yes; certainly/' 

“ Well, if they shall not perish but have ever- 
lasting life, who believe in Him whom He has 
sent, then if you believe in him you shall not 
perish but have everlasting life. Then, here 
again, in John v: 24, we read: ‘He that be- 
lieveth on the Son hath everlasting life.' Do 
you believe on the Son ?" 

“ I believe that Jesus Christ lived and died." 

“ But that is not enough; the devil believes 
that and trembles. Do you believe ON Him — 
that is, do you fully trust to the merits of His 
death upon the cross for the ground of your par- 
don and reconciliation ?" 

“ No, I do not know as I do." 

“ Well, if you did you would know it." 

u Can a man certainly know what he believes ?" 

“ Why, certainly! He may not know what he 
feels, but he ought to know what he believes. 
You know whether you believe that I am talking 
to you or not. You know whether you believe 
that is Ralph sitting there. You know whether 
you believe you are an American. If you do not 
know whether you believe it, then you doubt it. 
So you may know whether you believe upon 


64 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


Jesus Christ as your Savior. If you do not know 
it then you doubt it. You may have a sort of in- 
tellectual belief that Christ lived and died, but 
that is not believing on Him. ‘ With the heart 
man believeth unto righteousness.’ You must 
implicitly trust Him to be saved. You might be 
sick and believe that a certain remedy would heal 
you, but that would not heal you. You would 
have to take the remedy. So you may believe 
that Jesus Christ lived and died, but that will not 
save you, you must believe on Him, appropriate 
Him by faith as your Savior and then follow Him 
as Lord and Master.” 

“ You make it very plain, George, but some- 
how or other it does not take hold of me.” 

“ What you want to do is by faith to take hold 
of that promise, and then, perhaps, it will take 
hold of you.” 

“ I wish I could.” 

“ Well, Bert, what has a man that believeth 
on the Son ?” 

“ I don’t know.” 

“ Well, what does the Bible say he has?” 

“ Why, everlasting life.” 

“ Do you believe on the Son ? That is, do you 
trust Him ? Do you, by faith, appropriate Him 
as your Savior?” 

“ Yes, George; I believe I can now do that.” 

“ What have you then ? ” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


65 


“ Why, everlasting life.” 

“ Isn’t that plain enough ? ” 

“ It seems as if it ought to be.” 

“ Then again, in the sixteenth chapter of Acts 
we read, that when Paul and Silas were in prison 
and were miraculously delivered, the jailor, being 
convicted by the supernatural power manifested 
in the prison, came running and said, ‘ What 
must I do to be saved ? ’ And they said, ‘ Be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be 
saved.' Now, if a man must believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ to be saved, then just as soon as he 
believes on him, then he is saved, is he not ? ” 

“ I suppose so,” reluctantly replied Bert. 

“You suppose so,” said George, in astonish- 
ment. “ Don’t you know so ? ” 

“ Yes, if the word of God is true, I know so.” 
“ If the word of God is true ! Isn’t it true ? ” 
“ Yes, it is.” 

“ That’s better. Then what is a man who be- 
lieves on him ? ” 

“ From the testimony of the Word he is saved. ” 
“ Well, do you believe on Him ? ” 

“ Yes, but I do not know whether I believe on 
Him enough, or whether I trust him enough.” 

“ When you have trusted Him implicitly, then 
you have trusted Him enough. So long as you 
trust to anything in the least — to what you are 
or have been, to what you do or have done, to 


66 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


what you have or may have, then you are not 
trusting Him enough. 4 Trust in the Lord with 
all thine heart and lean not to thine own under- 
standing. ’ ‘ By grace are ye saved, through 

faith. ’ ‘ It is not of works, lest any man should 

boast.’ Then I want to give you the verse that 
converted Ralph the other day, Rom. vi: 23, 
‘ The gift of God is everlasting life through Jesus 
Christ our Lord.” 

“That’s the one that opened my eyes,” said 
Ralph Hill. 

“ If I were to offer you a gift,” asked George, 
“ what would you do with it, Bert ?” 

“ Take it, I suppose.” 

“ Why, then, will you not take the gift of ever- 
lasting life from the hands of the Savior ? Isn’t 
His word as good as mine ? ” 

“ Indeed, I would like to accept that great gift, 
but I do not know how.” 

“ If I were to offer you a gift you would not 
stand up and say, ‘ Indeed, I would like to have 
it, but I do not know how to take it. ’ You would 
just reach out your hand and take it, wouldn’t 
you?” 

“ Ah, yes. But, George, if you would offer 
me a gift I would know very well how to reach 
out my hand and take it, and I could feel it, too, 
when I had it.” 

“ Just so. And so you can just put out your 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


67 


hand of faith and take the great gift of salvation, 
or everlasting life, and then by the assurance of 
faith you may also know that you have everlast- 
ing life when you have once accepted it. The 
only way that I know that I have everlasting life 
is, because I know I have, by faith, accepted it. 
You must remember, Bert, that salvation, or 
everlasting life, is not a physical thing which you 
can feel with your senses, but it is a spiritual 
thing and must be spiritually discerned. If you 
would only put out your hand of faith and accept 
the great gift of salvation, then you might also, 
by the sense of faith, know that you had it.” 

“ If you will just tell me how to reach out my 
hand of faith and take the great gift of salvation, 
I assure you that I will very quickly do it. It is 
that which staggers me.” 

“ I can’t explain it, Bert, but I can illustrate it.” 

“ Well, that will be as well.” 

“ If your father were to offer you $10,000, 
payable to you in three years, would you take it ?” 

“ Why, of course I would.” 

“ How would you take it ? You are not to 
have it till in three years.” 

“ Well, I could accept his promise for it.” 

“ What would you be exercising in accepting 
his promise for $10,000 in three years?” 

“ I suppose you would call it faith.” 

“ What would you call it ?” 


68 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ I guess I would call it faith, too.” 

“ Well, as you exercised faith in accepting that 
promise of your father for $10,000 in three years, 
why will you not exercise that same faith in your 
Heavenly Father for Everlasting Life, which he 
has promised to you, not in three years, but at 
the end of life ? It may be three days, it may be 
three weeks, it may be three years, or it may be 
thirty years. Exercising faith in the promise of 
God for everlasting life, that is putting forth your 
hand of faith and taking it. If you can exer- 
cise faith in your father’s promise for $10,000 for 
three years, why can you not exercise faith in 
your Heavenly Father’s promise for everlasting 
life while you live on earth? For three years you 
would be claiming your father’s promise, then 
why not for the remainder of your life claim by 
faith your Heavenly Father’s promise? Your 
father might go back on his promise, but your 
Heavenly Father never will. And as you would 
rest assured of $10,000 of your father in three 
years, if you have accepted his promise, so you 
may rest assured of everlasting life of your 
Heavenly Father at death, if you have accepted 
His promise for it. The faith in your father’s 
promise would give you the assurance of the 
$10,000. So faith in your Heavenly Father’s 
promise ought to give you assurance of everlast- 
ing life. ‘ He that hath the Son hath everlasting 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


69 


life/ If you believe on the Son, you have ever- 
lasting life just as surely as you have $10,000, if 
you accept or believe in your father’s promise. 
If your father’s promise is good, you will have 
$10,000 the very moment you accept his prom- 
ise, though you will not come into full possession 
of the amount until three years; if your Heavenly 
Father’s promise is good, you will have everlast- 
ing life the very moment you will accept it, 
though you may not come into full possession of 
it until death.” 

“ Well, George, I do believe on the Son, but 
I am not satisfied.” 

il But if you believe on the Son, and you have 
everlasting life, why are you not satisfied ? What 
more do you want ?” 

“ Well, it seems to me that God ought to tell 
me that I have everlasting life.” 

“ Why, Bert ! He has told you, and that as 
plainly as He can tell you.” 

“ When did He ever tell me ? ” 

“ Right here is His Word. In very plain words 
he says: 'He that believeth on the Son hath 
everlasting life.’ Then if you believe on the Son 
is He not right here saying to you: 'You have 
everlasting life ? ’ ” 

“ Yes, George, I understand you, but I do not 
feel the truth of it.” 

“ I do not want you to feel the truth of it; I 
want you to believe the truth of it.” 


70 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ It seems as if you put the ground of assur- 
ance of salvation on the Word of God.” 

“ Why, Bert, what other ground of testimony 
is there ? • He that believeth on the Son hath 

the witness in himself; he that believeth not the 
Son, hath made Him out a liar, because he hath 
not believed on the record that God gave of His 
Son.' ” 

“ I do not know what else to do. I do believe 
on the Son.” 

“ There is nothing else that you can do.” 
u Why, then, haven’t I peace ? ” 
u Because you do not believe on the Word, or 
the record that God gave of his Son. Over 
here in Romans we read: ‘ Therefore being jus- 
tified by faith, we have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ.’ If you have faith, why 
then have you not peace ? 

“ I know. It is either because you haven’t 
faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, or else you 
do not believe His Word when it says you ought 
to have peace if you have faith.” 

“ Well, George, it must be the latter, for I do 
believe in Christ as my Savior.” 

“ Then don’t you see that you are making 
God out a liar ? ” 

“ Oh, don’t say that, George.” 

“ Don’t you want me to speak the truth?” 

“ Certainly! Certainly!” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


7 1 


u Then what else can I say ? ” 

Tears came into Bert’s eyes and he could not 
speak for emotion. 

“ Bert,” said George after a moment’s pause, 
“ if the Lord were to come down and write on a 
piece of paper, that you ought to have peace, 
would you believe Him or would you still doubt 
His Word ? ” 

“ I am sure I would believe Him.” 

“ Well, Bert,” said George in a sympathetic 
tone of voice, “ God has very plainly written out 
to you that blessed message, and here I will show 
it to you. You can read it for yourself.” 

Bert read: “ Therefore being justified by faith, 
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
Christ.” 

He sprang to his feet, threw his arms about 
George’s neck, and wept for joy, saying, “ I see 
it all now.” 

He had found the assurance of eternal life by 
taking the testimony of God’s Word. 


CHAPTER VII. 


A little more than a week had passed since the 
boys had pitched their tent and gone into camp. 
Two had been won to Christ, but two seemingly 
had been hardened. One was not being influ- 
enced either one way or the other. It was Will 
Long. He was one of those indifferent fellows 
who seemed to care nothing for Christianity, 
neither did he say anything against it. When 
he was approached on the subject of religion, he 
would turn it off as a huge joke. Talking to him 
about being religious was like “ pouring water on 
a duck’s back. ” 

But the boys had been putting in a word at 
every possible opportunity, and had also been 
earnestly praying for him. At times he had been 
seriously thinking about something. George Ax- 
tell yearned to have an extended, earnest talk 
with him, but Will Long was so inclined to trifle 
that he knew it would have to be done when he 
was in one of his serious moods, and as he did 
not have these very frequently, his opportunities 
for serious talks were scarce. George realized 
that the word would have to be in season. He 


72 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


73 


knew that he would have to be “ wise as ser- 
pents and harmless as doves. ” 

Frank Basil and Emmett Windom had planned 
to go back to the city on Saturday and bring 
with them some things which they had forgotten. 
George thought, “ I hope this may be the time 
when I can lead Will Long to Christ, or at least 
to a concern for his soul.” 

Early Saturday morning Emmett Windom and 
Frank Basil took the boat and started to the city 
without asking any of the other boys to go along, 
not even Will Long, who had frequently associ- 
ated with them. It pricked Will to the heart to 
be slighted in this manner. He was left alone 
with the boys who, he knew, would be talking 
religion all day; this was not pleasant to him. 
Ordinarily he would have thought nothing of 
being left with them, for he would have passed 
over trivially everything that the boys might have 
said about religion. But now the Spirit of the 
Lord was striving with him and he was ill at ease. 
He did not want them to say anything to him 
about religion for he was too serious to trifle, 
and yet he was not willing to yield to Christ. 
George saw that he was evading him, and would 
try to turn aside every conversation that bore in 
any way upon religion. But these symptoms all 
the more encouraged George, for he saw that the 
spell of his indifference was broken, and that the 


74 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


Lord was having a controversy with him. He 
felt that now was the time to speak to him 
about the concern of his soul. All day long he 
waited and watched for an opportunity to speak 
to him, but none seemed to come. He was not 
discouraged, for he saw that Will was in the hands 
of the Lord, and so long as His Spirit was striv- 
ing with him there would be no time lost. The 
day was almost gone, Emmett Windom and 
Frank Basil had returned from the city, and he 
knew that there would be no other opportunity 
that day. But he was satisfied, for he knew that 
the Lord was convicting him mightily of sin, and 
he was content to wait. He decided no longer 
to look for an opportunity to speak to him, but 
to let the Lord open the way and present the 
opportunity. 

Sabbath morning came. There seemed to be 
a deep solemnity in nature. Scarcely a breeze 
stirred, not a leaf seemed to move. The stillness 
of the forest seemed oppressive. Now and then 
a bird would give a wailing cry. The rain dove’s 
doleful notes could be heard in the distance. 
These more than ever seemed to oppress his 
contrite soul. 

All the boys were sitting on the bank of the 
river, watching its quiet waters, which seemed to 
sympathize with nature. The river seemed slug- 
gish, no motion could be seen about it, save now 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


75 


and then a fish would leap out of the water and 
would send the ripples from shore to shore. The 
only thing which broke the solemnity was their 
merry laughter as it echoed across the river. 

Suddenly, like a solemn peal, the notes of the 
church bell came floating to them on the air, 
from the city in the distance. As the first note 
reached the ears of the boys there was a deep 
silence. They listened quietly to its solemn peal, 
and as the last note died away, George said: 

“ Boys, I wish I was up there to go to church.” 

“ I am sure that I would go with you,” said 
Ernest Moore. 

“ It has been a long time since I have been to 
church,” said Ralph Hill, “ and I am sure that I 
would be with you. It is time that I am starting 
again.” 

“ You have not become converted, too ? ” said 
Emmett Windom, who knew he had been con- 
verted, but had not before had the opportunity 
to taunt him about it. 

“ You hope I have not been converted. Why 
should you hope anything like that ? It is the 
most important thing that a man can do. 4 For 
what will it profit a man if he gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul ?’ ” 

“ 4 Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and its 
righteousness/” said, Ernest Moore. 

“ Come on, Frank, let’s go ! ” said Emmett. 


j6 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ I am getting tired of scripture and prayer- 
meeting talk. ” 

“ Why, it does not hurt you, does it ? ” said 
Frank. 

“ No ! but it seems that nothing can be said 
unless it is switched off onto religion. Come on ! 
iet’s go.” 

Emmett walked off with an expression of dis- 
gust on his face. Frank waited a moment and 
then followed leisurely. 

“ Aren’t you getting tired of this pious talk, and 
such camping as this, Frank ? ” 

“ Why, no,” replied Frank. “ Why should I 
get tired of it ? I rather enjoy it. It has done 
me much good to be down here. I must con- 
fess that some of the things which George has 
said, and the spirit the boys have manifested, 
and the joy they seem to have, has almost made 
me wish that I was a Christian.” 

“Well, I declare,” said Emmett. “If we 
don’t soon break camp, we will all be converted, 
I am afraid. Frank, you are the last one from 
whom I would expect a remark such as you just 
made. The next thing you will be converted.” 

“ Well, Emmett, if it were not for my misera- 
ble doubts and intellectual difficulties, I think I 
would be a Christian. But as I believe now I 
can not honestly be one.” 

“ I don’t bother my head about it. I would 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 77 

not be a Christian if I could,” conceitedly said 
Emmett. 

44 Why not ? ” 

“ Oh, let's stop this, or you will soon be 
preaching to me, too.” 

“ All right,” said Frank; and the conversation 
was changed as they walked up the river. 

As Emmett and Frank started up the river 
Will Long looked after them with a longing look 
as if he yearned to go with them, but as they did 
not invite him he remained with the other boys 
on the bank of the river. 

George was waiting for an opportunity to 
speak to him. The days were passing and thus 
far only two had been converted. He had his 
heart set on winning every one of the boys to the 
Savior, if possible. George would have spoken 
to Will, but he was waiting for the Lord to open 
the way, and he believed that He would. 

After Emmett and Frank had gone there 
seemed to be an unnatural earnestness on the 
part of the boys, and as they lay there, looking 
in the distance, they seemed to be in deep 
meditation. 

In the silence of the moment Bert Moore said 
in his winning way, “ Will, why don’t you give 
your heart to the Lord and lead a Christian life ? 
If you knew the joy and peace there is in serving 
the Master I am sure you would do it at once.” 


78 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ I guess I ought,” said Will in a sort of an in- 
different way. 

Bert did not answer him, and after a mo- 
ment’s pause George said, “ Well, Will, if you 
ought to be a Christian and are not you are com- 
mitting a sin every moment that you are not a 
Christian.” 

“ I do not see how that can be,” said Will, 
looking up with an expression of doubt. 

“ Well, the Bible says, ‘ He that knoweth to 
do good and doeth it not to him it is sin. ’ And 
if you know that you ought to be a Christian and 
are not one, you are committing a sin every mo- 
ment that you are away from Christ.” 

There was a moment’s silence, then said 
Ralph Hill, who hitherto had said very little, 
“ Don’t you think your soul is worth saving, 
Will?” 

“ Yes ! for if what you said a moment ago is 
true, my soul is worth more than the whole 
world.” 

“ No matter in whatever else you may suc- 
ceed,” said George, “ if you fail in this, your life 
will be a miserable failure; no matter in what- 
ever else you fail, if you succeed in this, your life 
will be a success.” 

“ No doubt,” said Will, “ I ought to be a 
Christian, but it is an awful hard thing to be a 
Christian.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


79 


“Oh, no! you are mistaken,” said Bert 
Moore. “ It is the way of the transgressor that 
is hard. The path of the just is as a shining 
light that shineth brighter and brighter unto the 
perfect day.” 

“ Well, I guess it is no use for me to try to 
talk to you fellows, for I can’t dispute scripture 
with you; and I would not if I could; but it does 
seem to me the hardest thing in the world 
would be to lead a Christian life.” 

“ It is,” said George, “ if you are going to be a 
half-hearted Christian. If you are going to see 
how little a Christian you can be, instead of how 
big a Christian you can be; if you are going to 
see how little you can do for the Savior, instead 
of how much you can do for Him; if you are 
going to see how far off you can follow, instead of 
how closely you can follow; then it will be a very 
hard thing for you, or any one else, to lead a 
Christian life.” 

“ I guess you are right,” answered Will. 

“ You can’t serve God and Mammon and have 
any joy in serving God. It is a good deal harder 
to serve Satan than it is to serve the Savior. To 
serve the Savior is liberty, to serve Satan is 
slavery. The service of the Savior means a re- 
ward in heaven, the service of Satan means the 
pangs of hell. To serve the Savior means joy 
and peace, to serve Satan means woe and de- 
spair. 


8o 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ You have heard the story of the cruel tyrant, 
haven’t you, Will?” 

“ No, I haven’t, George. What is it?” 

“ A certain tyrant called unto him one of his 
subjects and said unto him, ‘ What is your occu- 
pation, sir?’ 'My occupation is blacksmithing,’ 
replied the subject. ' Go make me a chain five 
feet long,’ said the tyrant. The subject went and 
labored hard, making the chain five feet long, and 
when he had completed it he brought it to 
the tyrant. The tyrant looked at it a moment 
and then said, ' It is not long enough; go 
make it ten times that long.’ The subject 
went, and labored long and hard making the 
chain ten times that long, and when he had com- 
pleted it he took it to the tyrant, expecting a re- 
ward for his labor. The tyrant looked at him 
for a moment and then said to his servants, 
'Take that chain and bind him and cast him into 
prison.’ Is not that a pretty good illustration of 
the service of the devil?” asked George. 

“ Yes, but I am not serving Satan like that,” 
answered Will. 

“ I don’t know how you are serving him, but 
if you are not serving the Savior then you are 
serving Satan. ' He that is not with me is 
against me.’ If you are not on the Savior’s 
side, you are on Satan’s side. If you are not let- 
ting your life tell for Christ, then you are letting 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


81 


it tell against him. If you are doing Satan’s 
will, then you can not expect the Savior’s love. 
4 He that confesseth me before men, him will I 
confess before my Father which is in heaven; but 
he that denieth me before men, him will I also 
deny before my Father which is in heaven.’ Oh, 
Will, there is no hope for them in eternity who 
are against the Son of God in time. If you do 
not stand by Him now He will not stand by you 
then. If you do not accept Him now, how can 
He accept you then? It is said that 4 Christ was 
a friend of sinners,’ but woe be to the sinners 
who become not friends of Christ. It is said that 
the Son of God was delivered into the hands of 
sinners, but woe be to the sinners when they shall 
be delivered into the hands of the Son of God. 
You may not be a great sinner, but we will be 
judged not only for being abominable sinners, but 
also for being unprofitable servants; not only for 
being against Christ, but also for not being with 
Christ.” 

“ Oh, but,” said Will, “ I am a great sinner; 
so great that I am afraid He would not receive 
me if I would come to Him.” 

“ There is something that I am more afraid of 
than that,” said George. 

“ What is that ?” asked Will. 

“ That you will not feel yourself a sinner at all. 
There is often more hope of the great sinner 


82 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


than there is of the little sinner. That man who 
feels himself a very great sinner is not far from 
the kingdom, but that man who deems himself a 
very little sinner is yet a great way off. You 
can not feel yourself too great a sinner to be 
saved, but you may deem yourself such a little 
sinner that you do not feel your need of a 
Savior. There is no sin so great but what God 
will forgive it if you repent of it, but you may 
deem your sin so little that you do not think it 
necessary to be forgiven for it. The Savior 
never had anything but words of comfort for that 
one who was borne down with sin, but he never 
had anything but words of condemnation to the 
self-righteous who felt that they were not very 
great sinners. 4 He came not to call the righteous 
but sinners to repentance/ ‘This is a faithful 
saying worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of 
whom I am chief.' This was spoken by Paul. 
When first we hear of him his hands were stained 
with blood. But he repented of his sin and the 
Lord forgave him. The question, Will, is not 
whether he will forgive you, but whether you are 
willing to forsake your sin and turn to God and 
be forgiven for your sin. I am sure that if you 
are willing to forsake your sin, that He is standing 
ready and willing to forgive you and your sin, 
for He says, ‘ Let the wicked forsake his way, 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


83 


and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let 
him return unto the Lord, and He will have 
mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will 
abundantly pardon.' ” 

“ But, George, I can't give up my sin." 

“ Don’t say you can’t, but say you won’t. 
There are many things that I do not know, but 
there is one thing I do know, and that is, that a 
man can give up every sin that he wants to give 
up. God will help you give up every sin that you 
want to give up and are willing to give up. But, 
if you are not willing to give it up, God himself 
can not take it away from you. There is suffi- 
cient grace to help you give up every sin, and if 
you will fully appropriate the grace of God, you 
can give up every sin. You say you can’t give 
up your sin; I am more afraid you do not want 
to give up your sin." 

“ I guess that is it," replied Will, in a sort of 
compromising manner. 

“ Well, are you going to remain unwilling to 
give up your sin, and are you going on in your 
impenitence, and are you going to be damned at 
last ? " 

“ Well, George, if I am damned, that’s my 
business." 

“ Sure. And I am trying to have you attend 
to that all-important business of being forgiven 
and reconciled to God, for it is an awful thing to 
fall into the hands of the living God." 


8 4 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ Why, George, you make out God an awful 
being. I believe he is a God of Love.” 

“ Yes, I believe, too, that he is a God of love, 
and what a burning shame it is that you, by your 
willful continuance in sin, will grieve that love. 
He sent His Son into the world to die upon the 
cruel cross to redeem you from sin, and what worse 
stab could you give His heart of love than to re- 
fuse to give up sin ? Why, Will, if you knew the 
love of God, it would break that hard heart of 
yours. If you knew the love of God you could 
not abide another moment in sin. The goodness 
of God ought to lead you to repentance, and if it 
does not lead you to repentance, then you know 
nothing of the goodness of God. If you know the 
love of God, and will not forsake your sin, then 
you are mocking the love of God.” 

“ But, George, don’t you believe that God is 
merciful ? ” 

“ Yes, indeed. But I believe that He is also 
just. If He is not just then His mercy to the un- 
godly would be a great injustice to the godly. 
But the Bible says, ‘ His mercy is to them that 
fear Him.’ What good is the mercy of God to 
you when you will spurn all His mercy ? Why do 
you expect God to have mercy upon you, when 
you do not have mercy upon yourself ? Will, if 
you knew the love of God, which you speak of, 
and then will not forsake your sin which is grieving 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


85 


that love, then the condemnation upon you is all 
the greater. God is a just God. He is a merci- 
ful God. He is a holy God. Your sin to Him 
is heinous. It vexes Him. It worries Him. It 
troubles Him. It grieves Him. How long will 
you vex Him ? How long will you grieve Him ? 
How long will you worry Him ? He desires you 
to turn from your sin. He invites. He pleads. 
He reasons. He persuades. He warns. He 
threatens. He raises His awful hand to heaven 
and swears ‘ Except ye repent, ye shall all like- 
wise perish.’ 

“ If you really felt that you were a sinner, and 
believed ‘that God so loved the world that 
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish but have ever- 
lasting life, ’ you would no longer grieve that God 
of Love by still remaining in sin, would you ?” 
asked George, very earnestly. 

“ I don’t know,” replied Will in a way as if he 
knew not what else to say. 

“ Do you think, Will, that as you stand be- 
fore the judgment bar of Christ to give account of 
the deeds done in the body, that you will 
have much consolation in the fact that you held 
out so long against God, and that you grieved His 
love so long by your sin ? I am sure that if you 
knew the love of God that you could give up your 
sin. Yea, more, you would give up your sin. 


86 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


Now, be honest, Will, don’t you think you would 
be a good deal happier if you would just give 
up your sin and come right straight to God and 
accept Christ as your Savior ?” 

“ I don’t see how I can; it is an awful step 
to take.” 

“ It is an awful step to take!” said George 
in astonishment. “ It is a thousand times more 
awful not to take it. I don’t see how you can 
help but do it. Instead of saying 4 1 can’t, I 
can’t,’ it seems to me you would cry out, ‘ Oh 
God, help, I must, I must.’” 

There was a moment of oppressive silence. 
No one seemed to want to speak. Finally 
George asked: “ Is there anything in your 
way ?” 

“ No! ” replied he, in a more solemn manner 
than usual. “ If I knew I would hold out I 
would think something about being a Christian, 
but I do not want to begin and then make a 
failure of it.” 

“ You are afraid that you can’t hold out! I am 
more afraid that you will never start out. I am 
sure you never will hold out if you never 
start out. How are you going to know that you 
can’t hold out if you will never start out ? ” 

“ Well, there is no use talking, I do not want 
to begin a Christian life and then not be able to 
live it.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


87 


44 I am glad you have that feeling about it, 
Will. It is the strongest indication in the 
world that you will hold out if you will only 
lay hold on the grace of God. That one who 
feels his own weakness and then lays hold upon 
God’s strength will not fail. If you thought that 
you could hold out in your own strength I would 
not urge you, for then I would know that you 
would make a miserable failure. I am sure that 
you can not hold out. God alone can keep you, 
and He has promised to do so if you will only 
trust Him. In the face of His promises that 
He will keep you and uphold you and strengthen 
you and encourage you, what makes you think 
that you can not hold out ? Can you not take 
God at His Word ? ” 

44 You would not respect me yourself, George, 
if I started out and then made a miserable failure 
of it.” 

44 You do not want to think of making a failure 
of it. If you start out half-hearted you are sure 
to fail.” 

44 Well, I haven’t much respect for these peo- 
ple who are always getting converted and then go 
back.” 

44 I haven’t, either. But there is no need of 
them going back. But, Will, I have more respect 
for that man or woman who starts out with the 
earnest desire to hold out, than for that one who 


88 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


is too trifling even to start out. I have more re- 
spect for that young man who starts out in life 
with the earnest desire to succeed, though he 
may fail, than for that young man who has not 
even ambition enough to make an effort to suc- 
ceed. I respect that young man who starts to 
school with an earnest endeavor to gain an edu- 
cation, though he may fail, than that worthless, 
idle fellow who has no ambition even to get an 
education. And I believe that God will have 
more compassion on that man at the day of judg- 
ment, who has made an honest, sincere effort to 
do His will, than for that trifling one who cares 
nothing for His will. 

“ I am sure the Lord will keep you just in so 
far as you will trust Him. If you trust Him 
completely, He will keep you completely. If you 
will commit your entire self to God He will keep 
you. Paul can testify to that for he said, ‘ For 
I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded 
that He is able to keep that which I have com- 
mitted unto Him against that day.’ 

“ I am sure that Ralph can testify to the fact 
that there is no need of us trying to stand 
alone.* * 

“Yes, indeed, I can,” said Ralph. “I had 
the same idea of being a Christian that you have; 
I thought that I had to do it in my own strength. 
I strove, and struggled, and fought, and tried to 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


89 


be a Christian until I had worn myself entirely 
out, and then I gave up, and for several years 
lived a miserable backslider, and even spurned 
the name of Christian; all because I had the 
wrong idea of what it was to be a Christian, or 
rather because I had no idea save that I thought 
that it was some sort of a feeling that I once had, 
and then was soon gone. But I thank the Lord 
that I now have some promises to stand upon. 
Since George convinced me from the Bible, that 
the Christian life is not a life of striving or strug- 
gling, but a life of trusting, I have found it to be 
a life of great joy and happiness.” 

“ Yes,” said Bert Moore; “ I have never been 
a backslider, but I can testify that it is a blessed 
thing to trust the Savior to save you and keep 
you.” 

“ I am sure,” said George to Will, u that you 
would take such a faithful testimony from Ralph 
and Bert concerning other questions, why will 
you not take their testimony concerning this im- 
portant question ? I am sure they have no desire 
in their heart to deceive you.” 

“ I do not doubt but what they say is true; but 
as for myself, I am afraid to risk it.” 

“ There is no risk about it, if you will just 
throw yourself over onto the Lord and implicitly 
trust Him. Can you not trust Him?” 

“ Yes, I can trust Him, but I can not trust my- 


self. 


90 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ That’s good; you do not want to trust your- 
self, for then you would fall sure. You must 
look away from self to Christ. Now, can’t you 
just lay aside your own strength, and implicitly 
trust the Savior ?” 

44 I wish I could, but it seems so hard to do.” 

44 Well, just take the first step right now. Sur- 
render to God. Say, 4 Oh, Savior, the way is 
dark, but I will trust Thee to lead me. Do Thou 
save me and keep me.’ And as you say it just 
do it.” 

44 Oh, I wish I could; but I can’t.” 

44 Why can’t you ?” asked George, pleadingly. 

44 Just give up your own will,” said Bert 
Moore, 44 and I am sure you can.” 

Will arose to his feet and said: 44 I guess 
that’s what’s the matter with me — I’m too stub- 
born.” And as he said it he walked away to- 
ward the tent. George hastily arose and fol- 
lowed him, and taking him by the arm said, with 
tears in his eyes, 44 Will, can’t you give up ?” 

Will shook his head very emphatically as he 
said, 44 No!” 

44 Will you promise me, then,” said George, 
44 that you will pray over the matter, that God 
may help you to a decision to lead a Christian 
life and fully trust Christ to keep you ?” 

Will stopped for a moment and hesitated, and 
then said, 44 Yes, I will promise you that.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


91 


He went up into the tent and laid down upon 
his couch with his arms over his eyes. George 
went back to where the other boys were — Ralph 
and Bert — where they talked over, very seriously, 
the matter of Will Long’s salvation, for George 
was afraid that he was grieving the Holy Spirit, 
which was striving with him. 

“ Let’s go down behind the hill and pray for 
him,” said Bert Moore. 

“ All right,” said the other two boys, as they 
rose to go. 

They had a season of prayer and then again 
talked very seriously concerning Will. 

As Will lay upon his couch in the tent he was 
very much wrought up. The crisis of his life had 
come. The Lord, by His Spirit, was very em- 
phatically saying to him, “ Choose ye this day 
whom ye will serve.” 

The time for the noon hour had come, but no 
one seemed to realize it but Emmett Windom 
and Frank Basil, who had gone up the river and 
were now returning. They went into the tent 
and noticed that Will Long was very sober, and 
that he was struggling to keep back the tears 
which glistened in his eyes. 

“ What is the matter, Will?” asked Frank 
Basil. 

“ Oh, nothing,” replied Will, his voice tremu- 
lous with emotion. 


92 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ I suppose he is getting converted, too,” sar- 
castically said Emmett Windom. 

“Yes, I am,” said Will, very emphatically, 
and with an emphasis that gave Emmett to un- 
derstand that he did not care for his sarcasm. 

“ That’s right,” said Frank Basil. “ I am sure 
that it will not hurt any one to become a Christ- 
ian. It is just what every one ought to do.” 

“ The Lord must be in this camp, sure,” wit- 
tingly said Emmett. “ I am almost afraid that 
I will get converted myself.” 

“ I am sure it will not hurt you,” replied Will 
Long. 

From the foot of the hill where the boys had 
been praying George Axtell, as he arose to his 
feet, saw that Emmett and Frank had returned 
and were up in the tent. No sooner did he see 
it than he said, “ Boys, those other fellows are 
up there in the tent, and if Will has any serious 
thoughts of becoming a Christian, Emmett will 
try and laugh it out of him. We had better go 
up there.” 

Immediately the boys arose and followed 
George, who had started for the tent. As George 
stepped in at the door of the tent Will was sit- 
ting on the edge of his couch with the tears 
which he had shed still hanging on his cheeks, 
but there was a heavenly smile on his face. 

“ George,” said he, “ I have decided it.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


93 


“ Praise the Lord,” replied George. 

Bert Moore and Ralph Hill threw their arms 
around him and embraced him for joy. 

“ Let’s sing ‘ Happy Day,’ ” said George. 

They began to sing, and they sung it with a 
feeling indescribable. Frank Basil seemed to 
enjoy it, but Emmett Windom left the tent in 
disgust. 

“ George, when I promised you that I would 
pray concerning this matter, I did not have any 
idea that I would ever be a Christian, though I 
knew that I ought to be. But when I laid down 
on the couch a strange thought took hold of me 
and I felt that if I was not saved, perhaps then I 
never would be saved.” 

“ We were afraid of that, too,” said George, 
“ and went down behind the hill and earnestly 
prayed that you might not grieve the Spirit.” 

“ It is hard to fight against the Lord,” said 
Bert Moore. 

“ Yes, indeed it is, Bert, and I am glad that I 
have given up and yielded to Him.” 

“So are we,” said George, “and I am sure 
that if you will just keep on trusting the Lord 
completely, your Christian life will be a glorious 
one. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


Since the boys had gone into camp, one week 
had passed, then two, and almost three. The time 
for George Axtell’s stay in the camp was almost 
gone. The three weeks allotted him for a vaca- 
tion had rapidly passed away. A few days 
more and he would have to return to the store 
and again resume his work. The thought of 
going back without seeing Frank and Emmett 
converted weighed heavily upon his soul. Bert 
Moore, Ralph Hill and Will Long had all ac- 
cepted the Savior. In this he was greatly re- 
joicing; but when he thought of Frank Basil and 
Emmett Windom, and their seeming indifference 
and hardness, his heart almost sank within him. 

“ There is Frank Basil,” he would say to him- 
self, “ there is some hope of him becoming a 
Christian, because he is honest, I believe, in his 
doubts. But there is Emmett Windom, he has 
trifled and trifled, I fear, too long. He is in- 
clined to sneer at everything religious. Unless 
the Lord convicts him mightily of sin, I fear 
there will be no hope for him. But, moreover,” 
he thought to himself, “ why should the Lord con- 
vict him? He would only harden himself against 


94 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


95 


it. God is not going to convict him, so long as 
it will only harden him more and more against 
Him. It would only be adding condemnation to 
him to convict him of sin, when he is not willing 
to forsake his sin. 

“Well,” said George, “all that I can do is 
to try and lead them to the Savior. I do not 
want the blame of their condemnation resting 
upon me. It seems almost useless to speak to 
them, and especially Emmett, but it will not be 
so terrible to see him lost after I had spoken to 
him, as to see him lost without having spoken to 
him. If he ever goes to hell it will be in the 
face of entreaty and warning. My Heavenly 
Father shall never require his blood at my hands 
if he will give me an opportunity to speak to 
him.” 

It was a very warm Thursday afternoon. 
Ralph, Will and George were out in the woods 
reclining in the shade of a tree. They were 
talking about the good time they had, and about 
the new joys they had found. 

“ So you are going home Saturday, George,” 
said Will Long. 

“ Yes,” said George. “ My time will be up 
Saturday, and I will be compelled to return and 
begin work.” 

“ Well,” said Ralph, “ we have had a blessed 
good time together. I am sure, I am sorry to 
see you go.” 


96 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ Yes,” said Will. “ I do not know what we 
will do when you leave.” 

“ I am sure,” replied George, “ that you are 
no more sorry than I am. And it almost breaks 
my heart to think of going back without seeing 
Frank and Emmett converted.” 

“ I am afraid that you will be compelled to do 
so,” said Will Long, “ for they seem almost to 
be hopeless cases, and especially Emmett.” 

u Well, I will do all that I can to bring them 
to Christ, and if they are lost, their blood shall 
not be on my hands.” 

“ Are you going to speak to them about it,” 
asked Ralph. 

“ If the Lord gives me an opportunity, I will.” 

u I am afraid that you will not get an opportu- 
nity, for they are as shy as an old fox when pur- 
sued.” 

“ That is true; but if the Lord wants me to 
speak to them he will open the way.” 

“ I wish we might be able to lead them to the 
Savior,” said Ralph, in a manner as if he were 
sympathizing with George. 

Frank Basil, Emmett Windom and Bert Moore 
remained in the tent after dinner and did not go 
out in the woods. From where the other boys 
were sitting they could see that the boys in the 
tent were earnestly engaged in a conversation — 
they were gesturing as if they were in a heated 
argument. 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


97 


Bert Moore, who remained in the tent with 
Frank and Emmett, got into a heated argument 
with them. He held his own against them for a 
while, but two against one was too much for him, 
so he said, “ Well, I will go over and get George; 
he will argue with you.” 

“ No,” said Emmett, “ he won’t argue, he will 
just quote scripture.” 

Bert arose, left the tent, and went out to where 
the boys were sitting. As he approached them 
he said, “ George, I have been having an argu- 
ment with the boys and they were too much for 
me. They just ridiculed everything I said. I 
wish you would go over and talk to them.” 

“What were they arguing about?” asked 
George. 

“ Why, religion, of course.” 

“ How can they argue religion when they 
haven’t any?” asked George. 

“ You go over and you will find out,” replied 
Bert. 

“ All right, I will go over; this may be the op- 
portunity, and the only opportunity, that I will 
have of speaking to them about their own souls’ 
salvation.” 

As he walked toward the tent he prayed that 
the Lord might give him wisdom, and that he 
might have access to the hearts of the boys. 

As he approached the tent Frank Basil said, 


98 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ George, we have been having a hot debate with 
Bert. I guess we got the better of him. He 
didn’t seem to help us any in our difficulty, and I 
am glad that you have come. I am sure that you 
can give us some light on the subject. ,, 

“ I don’t know whether I can or not,” replied 
George. “ It depends what you were debating 
about and what the Bible says on the subject. ” 

“ Oh, we know,” said Frank, “ what the Bible 
says on the subject, but you know that we do not 
believe the Bible.” 

“ What if some did not believe,” said George, 
11 ‘ shall the unbelief of some make the faith of 
God of none effect ? ’ Because you do not believe 
the Bible is no proof that it is not true. * Let 
God be true and every man a liar. ’ And God is 
true, though every man would be a liar. If man’s 
foolish notions and shallow opinions would destroy 
the truth of God’s Word, then it would not be 
the Word of God. A blind man who had never 
seen the light might say there was no light. A 
deaf man who had never heard any sound might 
say there is no sound. For an unbelieving man to 
say, ‘ the Bible is not true, ’ does not destroy the 
truth of the Bible. When I was a boy I did not 
believe that the earth moved, and I used to spend 
the noon hour in school trying to persuade my 
teacher that the earth did not move. But I im- 
agine the earth moved all the same, whether I 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


99 


believed it or not. And whether you believe the 
Bible or not, that does not make any difference 
in the truth of it. 

“ I know that/’ replied Frank, “ but when a 
man can’t believe the Bible, what is he going to 
do about it, I would like to know? ” 

“ The trouble with you is not that you can’t 
believe, but it is because you won’t believe. If 
you tried as hard to be Christian as you try to be 
an infidel, you would not very long be an infidel. 
If you sought as hard for the light as you try to 
close your eyes against the light, I am sure that 
you would find the light. If you tried as hard to 
go to heaven as you try to go to hell, it would 
not be very long until you would be on your way 
to heaven.” 

“ But, George, if a man has intellectual diffi- 
culties, and can’t believe certain things in the 
Bible, how is he going to help it ? ” 

“ Frank, the trouble is not with your head, it 
is with your heart. You get your heart all right, 
and your head will be all right. Clean up your 
heart, and that will clear up your head. It is 
not the Bible that is wrong, it is you that is 
wrong. You get right, and then the Bible will 
be all right. Sin in the heart makes the Bible 
an exceeding mysterious book. It won’t do to 
read the Bible through the devil’s spectacles.” 

“ Do you mean to say, George, that my skep- 
tical head is due to my sinful heart ? ” 


IOO 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ That is what I mean,” pleasantly replied 
George. 

“ I do not know that I have such a sinful heart, ” 
replied Frank, flushing up a little. 

“ It may not be the sin of drunkenness, or of 
lust, or of murder, but it is some sin, perhaps of 
pride, or selfishness, or rebellion; it may be the 
sin of indifference, or hard-heartedness, or self- 
righteousness, but it is sin.” 

Emmett Windom quickly rose to his feet, 
and in a defiant way said, “ I don’t know what 
you will do, Frank; but he could not talk to me 
like that,” and he went out underneath the trees 
with the other boys. 

Frank Basil seemed to be somewhat offended 
at the truth that George had put at him, but he 
made no reply to Emmett’s remark. 

Finally George said, “ Frank, I am sorry that 
I have offended you. Emmett does not like me 
very well, and he has mistaken my meaning. I 
am sure what I have said I have spoken out of 
love to you, and if you knew how I have been 
yearning for your salvation, I am sure that you 
would think so.” 

“ I am much obliged to you, George, for your 
interest, and if it were not for the difficulties in 
the way, I think I would be a Christian. I said 
to Emmett the other day, ‘ If I could believe 
honestly, as a Christian ought to believe, there is 


A SKILLED WORKMAN IOI 

no doubt but that I would be a Christian. But 
when a man has honest doubts, and can not con- 
scientiously believe that way, what is he going 
to do ? ” 

“ There is but one thing that he can do,” re- 
plied George. 

“ And what is that ? ” 

“ Give your heart to the Lord and completely 
surrender to Him.” 

“ That expression, ‘ give your heart to the 
Lord, ’ is the most nonsensical thing to me in all 
the world. Giving your heart to the Lord, I am 
sure I do not know what it means.” 

“ It is the simplest thing in the world, Frank.” 

“ Well, just tell me plainly what it means.” 

“ It means simply this, to turn your entire 
nature over to him, that he may do with it as he 
pleases; it is entirely surrendering to the Lord, 
and saying, 4 Here, Lord, take me as I am, and 
make me what thou wouldst have me be. I am 
willing to be what thou wouldst have me be, I 
am willing to do what thou wouldst have me do, 
I am willing to go where thou wouldst have 
me go/ ” 

“ That is a very hard thing to do.” 

“ Yes! But if you will but make the surrender, 
I am sure the Lord will lead you out into the 
light. If you will give him your heart, it will 
not be long until he will clear up your head. If 


102 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


you will entirely surrender to Him, if you are 
wrong, he will set you right.’ ’ 

“ Well, if I am wrong, I am sure I want to be 
right. And if I am wrong I do not see why the 
Lord does not set me right. ,, 

“ How can He set you right, if you will not sur- 
render to Him ? How can He give you a new 
heart, if you will not give Him your old heart ? 
How can He change your nature if you forever 
bar your nature against Him ? God himself can 
not change you one bit if you do not surrender to 
Him.” 

“ Why, George, I thought that God was al- 
mighty and could do all things.” 

“ God is almighty, but He can not do things 
inconsistent with His nature. God is just, He 
is holy, and He can not do an unjust act or com- 
mit an unholy deed.” 

“ How do you know ? ” 

“ Why, God would no longer be just or holy if 
He did one unjust thing or committed one unholy 
deed. The Bible says: 4 He can not lie.’ If 
man has a free will God can not destroy that free 
will, for then he would no longer have a free 
will. Unless you surrender your will to God, He 
can not make you one whit better than you are. 
I am sure if you were willing to do God’s will, 
that He would reveal to you His will.” 

“ Why does not the Lord reveal himself to me 
any way ? ” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


103 


“ Why, He knows better than that/’ 

“ What do you mean ? ” 

u He does not want to tell you something, 
when he knows that you are not willing to do it. 
He would only be adding condemnation to you if 
He did. But to every obedient soul who is will- 
ing to do His will, to them He will reveal His 
will. A man may be spiritually blind, yet if he 
completely surrenders to God he shall see. He 
may be spiritually deaf, yet if he is willing to 
hear, He will unstop his deaf ear.” 

“ I suppose there is where the trouble is with 
me, George, I am not willing to surrender to 
Him.” 

“ That’s for you to do. If you do surrender, 
I am sure that these difficulties will all be cleared 
up; if you do not surrender, I am afraid you will 
go on in your doubt, and die in impenitence and 
be lost at last.” 

Frank made no reply but seemed to be in deep 
meditation. After a moment’s pause, George said 
to him, “ We have forgotten all about the 
discussion. I do not even know what it was 
about.” 

“ That’s so,” replied Frank. “ I, also, had for- 
gotten all about it. Why, Emmett and I argued 
that if I did the best I could, I would be saved 
and Bert said that would not save any one.” 

“ Bert was right,” immediately said George. 


104 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ Why, George, if I do the best I can, will not 
that save me ? ” 

“ No!” 

“ Why not ? ” 

“ Because you are not doing the best you can. 
You know much better than you do. If you 
know no more than you do, you are the biggest 
ignoramus in the world. You do very little, and 
if you know no more than you do, you know 
very little.” 

u But, George, if I do the best I can, will not 
that save me ?” 

“ But you are not doing the best you can.” 

“ But if I did ? ” 

“ You might as well ask, ‘ If something else 
had happened than what did happen, what 
would have happened ?’ But even if you did the 
best you could, it would not save you.” 

“ Why not ? ” 

“ Because the best that you can do, will still 
come far short of saving you. The highest mark 
of man’s doing may not even come up to the 
lowest mark of God’s judging. Your efforts, 
however good in the sight of men, may be ever 
so poor in the sight of God. If man could be 
saved by his own doings, there would have been 
no need of Christ’s sufferings.” 

“ I can not believe that.” 

“ It does not matter whether you believe it or 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


105 


not, that is what the Bible says about it. In 
Titus iii: 5, it says: 'Not by works of righteous- 
ness which we have done, but by his mercy he 
saves us.’ Then again, over here in Ephesians, 
the second chapter and the eighth and ninth 
verses it says: 'For by grace are ye saved 
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the 
gift of God: not of works, lest any man should 
boast.' Then again here in Acts xiii: 38, 39: 
' Be it known unto you therefore, men and 
brethren, that through this man is preached unto 
you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that 
believe are justified from all things, from which 
ye could not be justified from the law of Moses. ’ 
You might as well try to keep yourself from 
drowning by pulling at your hair, as to try to 
save yourself by your own effort. A stone might 
as well try to lift itself from the ground as for a 
man to save himself." 

“ But if I kept the law perfectly, would not 
that save me ?” 

“ But you can not keep the law perfectly, for 
' By the deeds of the law shall no man living be 
justified,’ because you can not keep the law." 

“ Well, George, if God knew that we could 
not keep that law, why, then, did he give it ?" 

“ That we might know that we are sinners, 
and repent of our sin, and turn to God and be 
forgiven for our sin. Paul said, ' The law was 
given as a school master to bring us to Christ.’ ’’ 


io 6 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ I do not understand that,” said Frank. 

“ The law was given to teach us that we are 
sinners and under condemnation, in order that 
we might repent and accept the great gift of 
salvation. Paul also said that if it had not been 
for the law that he would not have known sin. 
If the Lord had not said, 4 Thou shalt not steal/ 
we would not have known that stealing was sin.” 

“ Well, George, would we not have been a 
great deal better off if it had been so ? ” 

“ No, indeed ! for then we might go on in our 
wrong doing and never be convicted of our sin, 
and never repent of it and be lost at last. I am 
glad that God has given us the law to convict us 
of sin, that we might repent of it and be saved. 
I am glad the law was given to tell us what is 
sin, that we may repent of it and be forgiven 
for it.” 

u I think, George, it is an awful thing to read 
the law and see how condemning it is.” 

“ But, Frank, it is more awful not to know 
our sin, and go on remaining under the condem- 
nation of it. I am glad that the law came with 
awful condemnation to my heart, else I would 
have gone on in my impenitence and sin, and 
would have been lost forever. But the law told 
me what an awful sinner I was, and how heinous 
my sin was in the sight of God, and it broke me 
down before the Lord, and I turned to Him as 
my Savior.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


107 


“ But, George, if God would not have given 
the law, then there would not have been any 
sin. ” 

“ Oh no, Frank, you are mistaken about that. 
The law does not make a wrong a sin. It only 
tells us that it is a sin, and what a blessed thing 
it is that it does, in order that we may forsake it 
and be forgiven for it. The law was not given 
to save, but to condemn you. You can not be 
saved by the law, but you are condemned by the 
law. That very thing which you think will save 
you is just what condemns you.” 

“ That is an awful thing to think of, George.” 

“ Not if you will accept Christ and be saved. 
It is nothing to me that I am under condemna- 
tion, when there is a way of salvation. ‘Where 
sin did abound, grace did much more abound/ ” 

“ You do not believe in morality, then, do you, 
George ? ” 

“ Not as a means of salvation, but as a result 
of it. Morality is good as far as it goes, but it 
does not go far enough. It may take a man to 
the gate of heaven, but it will never let him in. 
Christ says, ‘ I am the door, no man cometh to 
the Father but by me/ Your moral life is not 
sufficient to save you. A moral life that would 
save a man, would have to be a perfect life; and 
there is none such out of Christ.” 

“ But are there not some men who are seem- 
ingly all right ? ” 


Io8 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ They may be all right on the outside, but 
they may be all wrong on the inside. He may 
be seemingly all right in his life, and be all 
wrong at heart. I believe there is such a thing 
as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. All that some men 
have of the sheep is the fleece, the rest is wolf. 
I do not think there is any one who lives a stricter 
moral, upright life, outwardly, than the Phari- 
sees, and yet Christ said of these: * Except 
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness 
of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye can in no 
case enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ The 
Pharisees were seemingly all right in their life, 
but they were wrong at heart. ‘ Man looketh 
on the outward appearance, but God looketh at 
the heart.’ God takes into account, not only 
the action of our lives, but also the condition of 
our hearts. He will judge us, not only from 
what we have done, but also by what we are. 
If our hearts are not right in the sight of God, it 
matters not what our lives have been in the 
sight of men. That poor Publican, weighed 
down with his sin, who, with a broken spirit and 
a contrite heart, cried out, ‘ God be merciful to 
me a sinner,’ was better in the sight of God, 
than the self-righteous Pharisee, who stood and 
thanked God that he was not as some other men 
are, and especially like that Publican, But I tell 
you, the Publican went down to his house justi- 


A SKILLED WORKMAN IO9 

fled, rather than the other, so says the Savior. 
Christ never spoke anything but words of com- 
fort to those who felt that they were sinners, but 
he never spoke anything but words of condemna- 
tion to the self-righteous Pharisee. 

“ Frank, I am sure that if we saw our hearts 
as God sees them that we would no longer de- 
pend upon our morality for salvation. You re- 
member last summer when Harry Wise almost 
drowned, don’t you ?” 

“ Yes; I remember that well.” 

“ You know that since then he has become an 
earnest Christian, don’t you ?” 

“ No. I had not heard that, but I know that 
he always was a good, straight fellow.” 

“ Yes, but he told me last summer, when he 
came near drowning, that when he was going 
down the last time everything that he had ever 
done, every evil thought that he had ever 
thought, little sins that he had forgotten, went 
through his mind like a flash of lightning, and 
had he died, said he, he would have been lost. 
And when he came to consciousness he decided 
to accept Christ as his Savior. Before that he 
had never thought of being a Christian. For he 
thought that he was just about good enough, but 
when he saw himself as God saw him, then he 
realized that he would have been lost without a 
Savior, and he accepted Him, and is trusting Him 


I IO 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


to-day. I think, Frank, if you could see yourself 
as he saw himself, that you would no longer de- 
pend upon your morality.’ 1 

“ I do not know about that, but I do know 
that Wise was regarded one of the best and 
most moral young men in the town, and if he 
would have been lost, I do not see how there can 
be much chance for me. But I do not see why 
a moral man should not be saved.” 

“ Because morality is not a condition of salva- 
tion, and if it were none could be saved, for no 
man’s morality is good enough to save him. 

* For all have sinned and come short of the glory 
of God;’ and the moral man will need pardon 
for his .sin as well as any other one who has 
sinned; and there is no pardon outside the merits 
of Christ’s death on the cross, and if he does not 
trust to this there can be no hope for him. To 
be saved is not by what we have done or can do, 
but by faith appropriating what Christ has done. 
The condition of salvation is such that every one 
can meet it if they want to do so. If it were 
works, or morality, we could not meet it. What 
a blessing it is that God did make the condition 
of salvation such that we can all meet it — faith 
in the merits of Christ’s death upon the cross. I 
do not see why any one should object to God’s 
way of salvation, when it is the easiest, the sim- 
plest and the only way. If a man wants to lead 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


III 


a moral life I am sure that accepting Christ will 
not keep him from it, but it will help him to lead 
a moral life.” 

“ But, George, don’t you think that if a man 
is a moral man that he is nearer the kingdom of 
heaven than an immoral man ?” 

“ I doubt it, Frank. I think Christ told the 
truth when he said that the ‘ publicans and 
harlots shall go into the kingdom of heaven be- 
fore the self-righteous Pharisees.’ These feel the 
need of a Savior and will accept him when he is 
offered to them, but the Pharisees feel no need of 
a Savior. You remember the self-righteous 
scribe to whom Christ said, * Thou art not far 
from the kingdom of heaven.’ We have no as- 
surance that he ever got into the kingdom of 
heaven. I hardly think he did, for he thought 
that he was already in, while he was not. The 
danger is that there are some who get so near the 
kingdom that they vainly imagine that they are 
on the inside of the kingdom when they are still 
on the outside of it. It is a sad thing when a 
man thinks he is about good enough to be saved 
and then in the end is lost. 

“ It is a sad thing when a man gets so near the 
kingdom that he lacks just one thing, like the 
rich young ruler, and then will let that keep him 
out forever. It is a sad thing when a man, be- 
cause of morality, deceives his own soul. No 


I 12 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


matter how near the kingdom of heaven a man 
may be, it avails nothing if he is not in it. It 
matters not how near the City of Refuge the 
pursued one has come, he is not safe until he is 
within its walls. It would not have mattered 
how near Noah might have come to the ark, 
there was no safety anywhere outside of it. No 
matter how near a moral man gets to the king- 
dom of heaven if he does not get into it.” 

“ You do not think that all these moral men 
are going to be lost, do you ? ” 

“ Well, if there is no other name given under 
heaven whereby we must be saved, but the name 
of Jesus, and they will despise that name, then I 
do not see how they are going to be saved. 
The Apostle Paul said, ‘ How shall we escape if 
we neglect so great salvation ? ’ He did not 
answer that question. No one else ever an- 
swered. No one ever can answer. There is no 
escape if we neglect so great salvation.” 

“ Do you think, George, that all these will go 
to hell ? ” 

“ If they won’t get to heaven, I am sure I do 
not know where else they will go.” 

“ That is one thing that staggers me and it al- 
ways did.” 

“ What staggers you, Frank ? ” 

“ Why, I can not believe there is a hell.” 

“ Do you believe there is a heaven ? ” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 1 1 3 

“ Why, certainly I do.” 

“ Well, you be sure you get to heaven, and 
never mind hell. If everybody would make 
sure of heaven, there would not be any hell, or 
it would be empty if there was one. But where 
will these go, who will not go to heaven ? A 
man who is sure of heaven does not need to fear 
hell. If I had no more hope of heaven than 
some men have, I believe I would not like to be- 
lieve in hell either.* When a man objects to 
hell, then I begin to think he is afraid of going 
there.” 

“ Do you really believe in a hell, George ? ” 

“ If I believe in a heaven, I must believe in a 
hell. If there is any reward there must be pun- 
ishment. If God is just, there must be punish- 
ment, if there is any reward. There must be a 
heaven if there is a hell.” 

“ But you do not believe in a hell of fire and 
brimstone, do you ? ” 

“ I believe in something as awful as that.” 

“ Don’t you think that those are figurative ex- 
pressions ? ” 

“ What if they are, they prefigure something 
real. As the fact of death is more awful than 
anything that has been used to prefigure it, or 
can be used to represent it, so I would not be 
surprised if the facts of hell are as awful, or 
more awful than anything that has been used to 
represent it.” 


I 14 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ Can you believe that God is a God of love, 
and then will cast men into such a hell as that ? ” 

“ He will not cast men in — they wilfully go 
there themselves. He has done all that he can 
do to keep them from going there. He has pro- 
vided a way of escape at an infinite cost, but if 
they reject all his mercy how can they escape ? 
He has invited; he has plead; he has warned; 
what more can he do ? If men go to hell, they 
go there of their own accord, and that in the 
face of the love, mercy, entreaty and warnings of 
God.” 

“ Do you think that God is a God of love, and 
then will provide such a hell where offending sin- 
ners will go ?” 

“ God did not provide it. Men make it for 
themselves. There will not be one bitter drop 
in the impenitent sinner’s cup of woe, but what 
he has put there himself. There will not be a 
pang of conscience, or one wailing cry, or one 
hot tear, but what the lost sinner will have 
brought upon himself. I believe, that ‘ whatso- 
ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.’ He 
will reap in eternity what he has sown in time.” 

“ Well, that would not make such an awful 
hell for a man, if he only reaps what he has 
sown.” 

“ It won’t ? Do you know what will be the 
punishment of the drunkard ? It will be a grind- 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


US 


ing, consuming, burning thirst for rum, and not 
be able to get it. No doubt there will be rum 
maniacs in hell, crying, ‘ Give me rum ! Give me 
rum ! I must have rum!’ What worse punish- 
ment could there be to the drunkard, than to 
have a 'delirium tremen,’ whose spell could 
never be broken. You remember when old John 
Wilkinson died, it took six men to hold him; and 
then he dragged them about the room as if they 
were mere straws. He thought that hideous 
monsters were entwining themselves about him; 
he thought that frightful serpents were shooting 
their forked tongues in his face; he imagined 
that flames of fire were leaping down his throat. 
Talk about fire in hell; there will be no more 
real fire in hell than that which old Wilkinson 
imagined leaping down his throat; there will 
never be any monsters in the pit more horrible 
and hideous than what he thought were entwin- 
ing themselves about him. To him they were as 
real as any fire that ever burned, or any monsters 
that ever lived.” 

“ And that’s your idea of hell ?” 

“ Why not ? ‘ Whatsoever a man soweth, 

that shall he also reap.’ Just take a man like 
Wilkinson, and translate him, in the condition in 
which he died, over into eternity, and what worse 
hell could there be ?” 

“ And do you think that that will be his con- 
dition in eternity ?” 


Il6 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ Why not ? ‘ He that is unjust, let him be 

unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy 
still.’ ” 

“ Well, according to your notion, what will be 
the punishment of the murderer ?” 

“ Like Cain; he will be forever hearing his 
brother’s blood crying to him from the ground. 
The murderer sees the murdered man’s ghost. ” 

“ What will be the punishment of the sin of 
impurity and lust ?” 

“ You will but need to go to Blackwell’s Island 
and see. It is a veritable hell on earth. But 
what will that hell be, when sin is finished ? Do 
you want to know what the punishment will be 
of the man or woman who has rejected Christ ?” 

“Yes; what will it be ?” 

“ They will then realize their awful mistake 
and their awful sin, the greatest sin. Christ said 
that he would send His spirit into the world to 
convince the world of sin, and he mentions but 
one sin, ‘ Because they believe not on me,’ as if 
that were the greatest sin, and it is. They will 
forever have to look on him whom they have 
pierced. They will then realize the love they 
have spurned, the heart they have broken, the 
mercy they have despised. For these the awful 
pang will be, not only what they must endure, 
but what they might have enjoyed. Not only 
what they are punished for, but what they might 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


II 7 


have been rewarded for. The awful remorse for 
them will be the thought of what might have 
been. For a man to reject Jesus Christ for any- 
thing else is an act of Judas Iscariot who set Him 
aside for thirty pieces of silver, and like him I 
think they will forever feel like hanging them- 
selves. ” 

“ Do you think that God is a God of love and 
will ever let a human soul go to a place like that ? ” 

“ How can he help it when men are determined 
to go there ? He has done all that he can do to 
prevent them from going there; and if ever a man 
goes to hell it will have to be over the loving 
sacrifices of Jesus Christ and against the warnings 
of Almighty God. To-day he is crying, as he did 
of old, 4 Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die ? ’ 
If ever a man is lost it will be in spite of the in- 
vitations, pleadings, warnings, threatenings of 
God. If ever a man goes to hell, it will be over 
the love of God. ‘ For God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten son, that whoso- 
ever believeth in Him should not perish but have 
everlasting life,’ and if they ever perish, it will be 
in spite of His matchless love. He has offered 
salvation free to us at an infinite cost to Himself. 
4 How shall we escape if we neglect so great sal- 
vation ? ’ ” 

“ Well, George, if that is the way that you be- 
lieve, all right, but I can never believe that way.” 

“ How do you believe ? ” 


1 1 8 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ I believe that a man gets all his punishment 
in this world.” 

“ Gets all his punishment in this world!” said 
George, in astonishment. “ How can a man get 
all his punishment in this world, when sometimes 
the last thing he does before he goes out of this 
world is to commit some great sin. Where is 
there time for punishment in this world for the 
man, who upon the gallows curses God because 
justice was meted out to him ? Where is there 
time in this world for punishment for the man, 
who, because of malice or jealousy in his heart, 
takes the life of his fellow-man, and then because 
of remorse takes his own. You remember last 
winter, John Reed came home < crazy drunk/ 
beat his wife cruelly, turned her and his own 
children out in the cold streets, so that one of 
them took sick from the effects of it and died ? 
The next morning John was found dead in bed 
himself. Where was there time for punishment 
in this world for him ? ” 

“ But does not their conscience punish them ? ” 

“ Why, Frank, some men haven’t any con- 
science. * It is seared as with a red hot iron/ 
Your argument will not hold; for the ungodlier a 
man gets the less his conscience hurts him. It 
ought to punish them more, but it seems to hurt 
them less. There are some men whose sins are 
so great, that though their conscience were a 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 119 

scourge, and every pang a lash, it would not atone 
for the sin of some men. If man gets all his 
punishment in this world, then why is it that 
some of the worst get the least ? No, no! He 
lets the wheat and tares grow together until the 
harvest, then comes the separation, so He lets 
the righteous and the wicked go together until the 
end of the world, then come the rewards and the 
punishments.’' 

“ Yes, but George, you do not know how much 
their conscience troubles them.” 

“ No ! But this I do know, the longer they go 
on in sin, the less it troubles them; and the 
ungodlier they get, the less their conscience hurts 
them.” 

“ Well, George, if a man does not get his 
punishment in this world, there is one thing I am 
sure of.” 

“ What is that?” 

“ Why, that man will have another chance 
after death.” 

“ How did you get all those foolish notions in 
your head, Frank ?” 

“ Oh, I have picked them up here and there.” 

“ You must have been looking for them.” 

“ Well, I must confess that I have; and as you 
said the other day, if I had been looking as 
closely for the truth as I have been looking for 
these things, I think I would be better off.” 


120 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ I declare, Frank, I can understand a good 
many things, but how some men go about look- 
ing for something over which they might stumble 
into hell, I do not understand. I was talking to 
a very hard hearted man some time ago about 
becoming a Christian, and it seemed as if he 
wrested every passage of scripture in the Bible 
from its true meaning, that he might have an ex- 
cuse for going to hell. I said to him, 'Why do 
you search the whole Bible for a verse over 
which you seem determined to stumble down 
into hell, when the Bible is full of hopeful prom- 
ises and blessed invitations to you ?’ He seemed 
at first at a loss what to say, and then he said, 
* I guess it’s because I am bound to go to hell. * 
There are many men who seem to be just that 
foolish, Frank.” 

Frank seemed at a loss what to reply to these 
thrusts, and seemed somewhat worried, so he 
made no reply to what George had said. 

After a short pause George said, “ Do you 
really think that you will have another chance 
after death ?” 

“ I hardly think I would have said so, if I did 
not think so.” 

“ Why do you want another chance after 
death, Frank ? Is the service of Satan so sweet 
that you must take all of this life for serving him, 
and then expect God to save you in the life to 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


1 2 1 


come ? If mercy on earth will not bring you to 
repentance, neither will justice in hell do it. If 
God’s great love here will not lead you to 
repentance, neither will God’s justice there do it. 
Instead of becoming penitent, you will become 
hardened. * Character tends to permanency.’ 
The farther you will go on in sin the less desire 
you will have to forsake that sin. If you will not 
repent here where you are only partially con- 
taminated, why do you think that you will repent 
there where you will be thoroughly hardened ? 
The same sun that melts the wax hardens the 
clay, and the love that now ought to win you, 
may then harden you. The older men get the 
harder it will be for them to become Christians. 
Very few are converted after the age of fifty; I 
have never seen but five. If the chances are so 
few in old age, what will they be in eternity, 
when age has rolled on age, and the hardness 
has multiplied ? If the chances are so few when 
you are old, had you not better accept Him while 
you are young; if they decrease so rapidly, had 
you not better accept Him immediately ?” 

Frank seemed to be seriously thinking, but he 
made no reply. 

Finally George said, “ What makes you think 
that you will have another chance after death ? ” 
“ I am sure I don’t know,” replied Frank. 

“ I am sure you do not get it from the Bible.” 
u I scarcely know what is in the Bible.” 


122 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ The Savior’s words concerning this question 
are very plain. I might quote you a great many; 
but it seems to me that the parable of Lazarus 
and the rich man ought to settle it forever in 
the mind of any one. They are not the words of 
a philosopher, or a theologian, but they are the 
words of the Son of God; and I would receive 
his testimony in preference of all the testimony 
of the world beside. You remember the parable, 
don’t you ? 

“ 4 There was a certain rich man, which was 
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumpt- 
uously every day: and there was a certain beg- 
gar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, 
full of sores. And it came to pass, that the beg- 
gar died and was carried by the angels into Abra- 
ham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was 
buried; and in hell he lifted up his eyes, being 
in torments; and seeth Abraham afar off, and 
Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, 
Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send 
Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in 
water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in 
this flame. But, Abraham said, Son, remember 
that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good 
things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now 
he is comforted, but thou art tormented: and be- 
sides all this, between us and you there is a great 
gulf fixed; so that they which would pass from 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 1 23 

hence to you can not; neither can they pass to 
us, that would come from thence/ ” 

“ I do not see how that disproves a chance 
after death, George.” 

“ You don’t? Did they not both die; was not one 
in heaven and the other in hell; was there not an 
impassable gulf fixed so that they could not 
cross over ? What does it prove, if it does not 
prove that ? If there was no hope for this rich 
man after death, why do you think there is for 
any one else ? He was not a wicked man as we 
regard wickedness, he was only stingy; but now 
he was reaping what he had sown; but with the 
seed multiplied a hundred fold, or more; and 
what he reaps he sows again, until, like the rag- 
ing waves of the sea. 1 He has foamed out his 
own shame/ 

u According to that, there is not much of a 
chance after death, is there ? ” 

“ No! and if I were you, Frank, I would im- 
prove the first possible opportunity here to be a 
Christian, even if there were another chance in 
the ages after death. I do not see what you ex- 
pect to gain by putting it off. If you want to go 
to hell and be punished awhile for your sin and 
then repent, why all right, but I should think 
that you would want to escape hell entirely; and 
especially when there is no opportunity of repent- 
ance offered there.” 


124 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ There is no doubt but what that would be the 
sensible thing to do, but I can not decide now.” 

“ But, Frank, you are deciding now.” 

“ I don’t see how. What do you mean ? 

“ Why, Frank, you are deciding not to become 
a Christian. So long as you do not decide for 
Him, you are deciding against Him. Will you 
not right now decide for Him ? ” 

“ No, I guess not.” 

“ Why not ?” 

“ Well, I suppose it is as you say, that I am 
not willing.” 

u Are you willing to be made willing?” 

“ I think I am.” 

“ Well, then, will you just kneel down here with 
me and pray that God might lead you into the 
light ?” 

“ I surely ought to be willing to do that, if I 
am sincere, and I think I am. ” 

They both knelt down and George prayed for 
Frank, as he alone can pray, and when he had 
finished he asked Frank whether he would not 
pray for himself. Frank shook his head very 
defiantly. They arose from their knees, and 
George saw tears in Frank’s eyes and he was yet 
very hopeful of Frank’s conversion; but at the 
time he would not yield to the conviction of his 
own heart. But he promised George that he 
would make the matter a subject of earnest 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


125 


prayer, though he scarcely knew how to pray. 
They separated. George was exceedingly sorry 
that Frank did not yield; but in his heart there 
was the assurance which was born of his faith 
that Frank would some day, and, perhaps very 
soon, be a Christian. 


CHAPTER I X . 


When Emmett Windom left George Axtell and 
Frank Basil in anger and disgust, he went out 
underneath the trees where the other boys were, 
and there he was soon engaged in ridiculing 
religious things as usual. But there were three 
against him, and they made him cower down 
underneath the rebukes which they gave him. 
Though they had been Christians but a short 
time, yet by their earnestness, they would fre- 
quently bring him to seriousness. It was very 
difficult to talk to him about religious things; for 
he would just jump about here and there, now 
seemingly talking in earnest, and then in the 
most ridiculous jest; now flying up in anger, and 
then turning everything sacred into ridiculous 
jokes. He did not seem to have the dislike for 
the other boys which he had for George, though 
he did not like converted folks. They could talk 
to him about religion when George could not, 
perhaps, because he could trifle with the boys, 
and he could not with George. 

While they were talking, George, who had left 
Frank in the tent after he had finished talking 
with him, was coming out to where the boys 


126 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


127 


were. When they saw him coming, Will Long 
said, “There comes George; I suppose Em- 
mett will leave us now, as he can not bear to be 
around where George is. ” 

“ I am going to stay right here,” said Em- 
mett, “ if he converts me. I am not afraid of 
him.” 

“ I do not see why you should be,” said Bert 
Moore; u I am sure he won’t hurt you. He is 
much concerned about you, and yearns to see 
you saved.” 

“ It will be a cold day when he sees me saved.” 

“ I don’t think it is anything to boast of,” said 
Bert, “ that you can, and do, resist all his earnest 
entreaties for your own welfare; when it is noth- 
ing to him whether you go to hell or not, only 
that he loves you.” 

“ Well, I know George is serious, and no 
doubt he is concerned about me, else he would 
not take my rebuffs the way he has done; but I 
wish he would keep his religion to himself.” 

“ Why, Emmett, I am sure his religion will 
not hurt you. I think it would do you some 
good if you had some of his religion.” 

“ Well, I can tell you right now that I do not 
want any of it.” 

“ Some day you may talk differently,” said 
Ralph Hill. 

“ Yes ! ” said Will Long, “ when he comes 


128 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


face to face with eternity, I think he will look at 
this matter a little more seriously than he is 
doing now.” 

u I am not bothering myself very much about 
eternity,” said Emmett, in a very trifling way. 
“ When I die, I expect that to end it with me.” 

“ Because you expect it to be so, does not 
make it so, ” said Ralph. 

“ You expect to die as the dog dies, do you ? ” 
asked Bert. 

“ Just that way,” replied Emmett. 

“ When a man expects to die as the dog dies, 
he usually lives as the dog lives,” said Will 
Long. 

“ But we must all appear before the judgment 
bar of Christ, to give account of the deeds done 
in the body,” said Bert. 

By this time George had come up to the boys, 
and as he did so Bert said: “ We have been 
having it with Emmett again.” 

“ About what ?” 

“ Oh, about religion.” 

“ Yes; and they might as well talk to that old 
stump out there as to talk to me about religion. 
I am not concerned about religion.” 

“ But you ought to be concerned about it,” 
said Will. “ We are concerned about you.” 

“ Well, you need not be. I’ll come out all 
right.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


129 


u You’ll come out all right said George in 
astonishment. “ How can you come out all right 
if you do not start in all right ? There is no such 
a thing as coming out all right when you are 
starting in all wrong. There are many who 
think they are starting in all right who are start- 
ing in all wrong.” 

“ Well, I am satisfied all right the way I am 
going.” 

“ That may be so, too,” said George. “ The 
devil makes men satisfied with themselves. He 
deceives many and they do not know it. He is 
leading many around by the nose just as he 
pleases.” 

11 Well, I enjoy it pretty well.” 

lt It seems so. But the devil’s paths are the 
brightest at the beginning of them, but they grow 
darker and darker toward the end of them. 
'There is a way that seemeth right unto man, 
but the ends thereof are the ways of death.’ 

' All the ways of man are right in his own eyes, 
but the Lord pondereth the heart.’ Vainly 
hoping that you will come out all right is a wil- 
derness journey, without a cloud by day or a pil- 
lar by night to guide you; which, instead of bring- 
ing you into the promised land, may make you 
to perish in the terrible wilderness. Such a vain 
hope is like the mirage of the desert, the nearer 
you approach it the less real is the appearance of 
it.” 


130 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ You are getting too eloquent for me,” said 
Emmett, in derision. 

“ I am simply trying to tell you the truth 
plainly,” said George. 

Nothing was said for a moment, and then Bert 
Moore said, “ Emmet, what are your objections 
to becoming a Christian?” 

“ Oh, they are too many to mention,” indiffer- 
ently replied Emmett. 

“ Well, tell us some of them,” said Will Long. 

“ Well, I would have to give up too much.” 

“ You will only have to give up what is wrong,” 
said George. 

“I know that,” said Emmett; “ but that is 
just what I do not want to do.” 

“ Do you mean to say, Emmett, that in the 
face of what Christ has done to save you, and to 
redeem you from sin, that you are not willing to 
give up your sin ?” 

“ I suppose that is it. Then there is too much 
required of a Christain, any way.” 

“ Why, Emmett, there is nothing required of 
a Christian but -what is right; and that is required 
of every one whether he is a Christian or not. 
Nowhere in the Bible can you show me where 
there is more required of a Christian than of a 
man who is not a Christian. When a man has 
become a Christian he has met the requirements; 
that is all. God does not require more of me as 


A SKILLED WORKMAN I 3 I 

a Christian than he does of you as a nom 
Christian. This is what he requires of me, ‘To 
love the Lord my God with all my soul and with 
all my heart and with all my mind. ’ And that 
is what he requires of you, too. He requires of 
me to forsake my sin, to accept Jesus Christ as 
my Savior, and to follow Him as Lord and Mas- 
ter; and that is what he requires of you, too, and 
woe be to you if you do not meet those require- 
ments. ” 

“ But if you are a Christian it would be wrong 
for you to do things which will not be wrong for 
me to do.” 

u No! no! If they are wrong for me to do, they 
are wrong for you. Because a wicked man 
does a wicked act does not make the act right. 
If you have a right to do wrong things, then I 
have a right to do them. God forbids me doing 
only that which is wrong; and that he also for- 
bids you. I have the privilege to do everything 
that is right; no man has a privilege to do that 
which is wrong.” 

“ But George, it would not be right for you, if 
you are a Christian, to drink, and gamble, and 
goto horse races and things like that, would it ?” 

“ No! Neither is it right for you to do them.” 

“ God can not hold me responsible for things 
for which he will hold you responsible for.” 

“ You will not say that at the judgment day.” 

“ Say what ?” 


i3 2 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ Why, you won't get up at the judgment bar of 
God and say, ‘You can not hold me responsible 
for these things, for I was not a Christian.' If 
you do, He will say to you, ‘ But you ought to 
have been a Christian, and I will hold you re- 
sponsible for all the evil a Christian ought not 
to have done, and for all the good that he ought 
to have done.’ " 

“ Oh, well, boys, I guess it is all right to be a 
Christian, if one wants to be, but I haven’t 
time to be a Christian.” 

“ No time to be a Christian! No time to pre- 
pare for eternity! You ought to do first things 
first, and what is more important than the salva- 
tion of your soul ? ‘ Seek ye first the kingdom 

of heaven.” Perhaps at last you will say, as did 
the queen of whom I read the other day, who, 
when she came to die, cried out in despair, ‘ Oh, 
for a moment of time that I might make my 
peace with my God ! ’ Or, like that rich old 
man who died some time ago, who said, at the last 
moment, ‘Alas! I have prepared during the 
course of my life for everything but death, and 
now I must meet my God wholly unprepared. ' 
I think, Emmett, when you come face to face 
with death that you will wish that you had taken 
time to prepare for eternity.” 

“ Oh, well! Perhaps some time I will be a 
Christian; but not now.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


133 


“ Emmett, if you ever ought to be a Christian, 
you ought to be one right now. ‘ He that 
knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is 
sin.’ Every moment that you are refusing to 
live a Christian life you are committing a sin. 
Let’s see, if you are twenty-four years old, you 
have committed seven hundred and fifty-six mil- 
lion, eight hundred and sixty four thousand sins. 
Your sins are piling up very fast every day that 
you refuse to be a Christian.” 

“ Oh, well, you say, ’ He can save the greatest 
of sinners, and he will save me at last.’ ” 

“ Perhaps so, and perhaps not. He may say 
to you; ‘ Because I have called, and ye have re- 
fused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man 
regarded it; but ye have set at naught all my 
counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will 
laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your 
fear cometh. Then shall ye call upon me, but I 
will not answer; ye shall seek me early, but ye 
shall not find me.’ 1 Seek ye the Lord while He 
may be found (and that implies that there may 
come a time when he can not he found); call ye 
upon Him while he is near (and that implies 
that there may come a time when He is not 
near).” 

“ From that you don’t believe much in death- 
bed repentance, do you, George ?” 

“ I believe in a death-bed scare, in a drowning 


134 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


man grabbing for floating straws; but I do not 
believe much in death-bed repentance.” 

“ But was not the thief on the cross saved at 
his death ?” 

“ Yes; but the thief on the cross had not been 
plead with, and admonished, and warned, and 
besought as you have. The thief on the cross 
had not been brought up in a Christian commu- 
nity; taught in a Sunday school; nurtured in a 
Christian home; blest with Godly parents, as you 
have. The thief on the cross accepted Christ at 
the first possible opportunity; and if you would 
have done this, you would have been a Christian 
long ago. The thief on the cross had never been 
told of Christ before, but you have; he had 
never been urged to accept him before, but you 
have. I fear it will be more tolerable for the 
thief on the cross, on the day of judgment, than 
for you. He may say to you as He said to the 
cities which rejected Him, ‘ Woe unto Chorazin, 
woe unto thee, Bethsaida, for if the mighty works 
had been done in Sodom and Gomorrah, that 
were done in thee, they would have repented 
long ago in dust and ashes. Therefore I say 
unto you, that it will be more tolerable for Sodom 
and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for 
you . 1 

“ There is only one time for you to become a 
Christian, Emmett.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


135 


“ When is that ?” 

“ Right now.” 

“ I thought you would say that.” 

u That is the only thing that I can truthfully 
say. For ‘ now is the accepted time, now is the 
day of salvation. ’ ‘ Boast not thyself of to-mor- 

row, for ye know not what a day may bring forth. ’ 
Emmett, you will never see to-morrow.” 

“ Why, George, you don’t expect me to die to- 
night, do you?” 

“ No; but when you will wake up to-morrow, it 
will be to-day. Why will you not become a 
Christian right now ?” 

“ Because I don’t want to.” 

“ I don’t think, Emmett, that as you will stand 
before the judgment bar of God, you will 
find much consolation in the fact that you have 
rejected Christ all the days of your life, and 
trifled with His mercy, and spurned all His love. 

“ Why do you want to put off this matter until 
your dying day ? Do you want to serve the devil 
all the days of your life, and then come at last 
like a coward and expect God to save you ? I 
have a good deal of respect for the old sailor, 
who, when he came to die, said to his friends, as 
they gathered about him to admonish him to ac- 
cept Christ, 'No; I know I have been a great 
sinner; I know I am going to hell; but I have too 
much manhood left to come now and throw the 


136 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


fag end of my life in the face of the Almighty.* 
Is the service of the devil so precious that you 
must take all of this life in serving him?’* 

“ I guess that is it,” replied Emmett, in a 
trifling way. 

“ I can not imagine a meaner thought that 
could possess a human heart than that, Emmett. 
If there is anything like robbing God, you are 
doing it.” 

George’s sudden thrust seemed to have balked 
Emmett for a moment, so that he was not able 
to reply to George. There was a deep silence, 
and then Bert Moore said, “ I would not want to 
answer for Emmett’s sins at the judgment day.” 

“ Oh, my sins are few and small,” said Em- 
mett in a trifling manner. 

“ That may be, ” said George. “ But one sin will 
condemn a man. You need not blow a thousand 
bullets through your brain to kill you; one will 
do it. You need not thrust a thousand daggers 
through your heart to kill you; one will do it. 
You need not take a hundred doses of poison to 
kill you; one will do it. As one wound may kill 
the body, so one sin will damn the soul. There 
was one leak in the vessel; it sunk it and drowned 
all on board. There was one cancer near the 
heart; and it killed the man. There was one 
speck of leprosy on the forehead; and the man 
became an outcast forever. There was one 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


137 


spark in the magazine; and it blew it to atoms. 
There may be but one sin upon your soul; but if 
it is not forgiven you will be an outcast forever. 
For one sin Adam and Eve were driven out of 
Eden. For one sin Moses was shut out of the 
promised land. For one sin Gehazi became a 
leper as white as snow. For one sin angels were 
cast out of heaven down to hell. ‘ If we offend 
in one point we are guilty of all/ The Apostle 
Paul says, ' There is no difference, for all have 
sinned/ It does not matter whether your sins 
are many or not; you need not commit many sins 
to be lost — you are lost already; for 'he that be- 
lieveth not on the Son of God is condemned 
already/ 

“ You will be held accountable for the sins of 
omission as well as the sins of commission. You 
will be judged not only for the evil that you have 
done, but also for the good that you might have 
done; not only for being abominable sinners, but 
also for being unprofitable servants; not only for 
what you have done against the Savior, but 
what you might have done for him. Think of 
the time you have wasted; the talents you have 
squandered; the opportunities you have misap- 
proved. Think how you have blasphemed His 
name; how you have spurned his love; how you 
have disregarded His promises; how you have 
despised His mercy.” 


138 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ Oh, no doubt I am a sinner, but I am not re- 
sponsible for being in sin.” 

“ You may not be responsible for being in sin, 
but you surely are responsible for getting out of 
it. You may not be responsible for your original 
sinfulness, but you are responsible for your sinful 
diffidence. God will not hold us responsible for 
being under condemnation, but for not accepting 
His great gift of salvation. It will not do for you 
to say at the judgment day, ‘ Lord, I knew I was 
a sinner, but I could not help it. ’ And he shall 
say, ‘ Did I not offer salvation and you would not 
take it ? ’ Noah might have said, 4 1 am not re- 
sponsible for the flood and I will not get into the 
ark,’ but if he had not gotten into the ark he 
surely would have perished in the flood. Lot 
might have said, 4 1 am not responsible for 
Sodom’s calamity;’ but he was responsible for his 
own safety. If he had not gotten out of Sodom 
he surely would have perished in Sodom. Why 
should we complain about being under condem- 
nation when there is a way of salvation ? If you 
ever are lost it will not be because of God’s 
providence, but because of your negligence; not 
because you could not be saved, but because you 
would not be saved; not so much because of your 
sinfulness, as of your stubbornness.” 

“ Well, if I am ever lost I am sure that it need 
be nothing to you.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


139 


“ But it will be something to me; for the 
scripture saith, ‘ If thou dost not speak to warn 
the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall 
die in his sins; but his blood will I require at thy 
hands.' For your own sake, and not for mine 
you ought to become a Christian. I know you 
are not ready, neither are you much concerned 
about becoming a Christian; but will you not 
consider the matter earnestly?” 

“ No, I will not. I can tell you right now, 
that you are wasting time in talking to me about 
becoming a Christian. I don’t care whether or 
not you ever speak to me again about becoming 
a Christian. What I want you to do is to leave 
me alone.” 

“ I can do that, Emmett, if you desire it; that 
does not matter much, but when the Spirit of 
God will leave you alone, it will be a sad thing. 

‘ His spirit will not always strive with you.’ He 
may say to you as he did to Ephraim, ‘ He is 
joined to his idols, let him alone.' I am afraid 
Emmett, that your trifling will lead to that un- 
pardonable sin — the sin against the Holy Ghost, 
which will never be forgiven, either in this world 
or in the world to come.” 

“ I am sure that I do not know anything about 
that sin, and I do not bother myself about it. It 
may ,be I have committed that sin already; it 
does not matter, but I would like to know what 
it was.” 


140 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ It is saying ‘ No ’ to God for the last time. It 
is when he shall knock at your heart for the last 
time. It is when you hear his voice and harden 
your heart. It is when God sees that there is no 
use in striving any longer and he leaves you 
alone. It is when God has given you up.” 

“ I do not believe that God ever will give any 
one up. How can He if He is a God of love ?” 

“ I believe the Spirit of God will strive with a 
human soul so long as there is any hope; I be- 
lieve the Savior knocks at the door of a heart so 
long as there is any hope of them opening to Him; 
but when His striving will only make them 
harden their heart; when His rapping at the door 
will only make them bolt it more closely; then He 
leaves them alone. Why should He not ? He 
would only be adding condemnation to them by 
keeping on striving and knocking, when it will 
only harden them more and more. And then 
what use is there in His knocking longer when He 
sees that they will not yield but will bolt the 
door more tightly ? ” 

“ I do not think there is a sin that God will not 
forgive. He would be a cruel God if He will not 
forgive every sin.” 

“ He can’t forgive it. How can He forgive you 
your sin, when you have become so hardened or 
indifferent or trivial that you will not forsake 
your sin ? The sin against the Holy Ghost is not 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 141 

a fault on God’s part, it is a fault on your part; 
God will forgive every sin that is sincerely 
repented of, but the sin against the Holy Ghost 
is that you have become so hardened, or indiffer- 
ent, or self-righteous that you will not repent of 
your sin. The sin against the Holy Ghost is not 
that God does not desire to forgive, but because 
He can not forgive; because you have hardened 
your heart against the Holy Spirit that would 
lead you to repentance; and seeing that there is 
no use to convict or plead, He leaves you alone.” 

“ Well, I have not committed the sin against 
the Holy Ghost, because I do not think that He 
has striven with me, or that He has convicted me 
of sin.” 

“ May be he knows that it will be of no use to 
strive with you or to convict you of sin. May be 
He knows that you will only harden your heart 
against His strivings, or will not repent of your 
sin when you are convicted of sin, and He does 
not want to add condemnation to you by convict- 
ing you of sin when He knows that you will not 
repent of it. Unwillingness to yield to the 
promptings of the Holy Ghost, to the strivings of 
the Holy Ghost, to the convictions of the Holy 
Ghost, is as much a sin against the Holy Ghost 
as to resist Him when He has striven with you. 

I am not surprised that the Lord lets some men 
go down to hell without ever even pleading or 


142 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


striving with them, because He knows that it 
would do no good to strive with them.” 

“ Well, if the Holy Spirit does not strive with 
me, and I am lost, then isn’t God to blame ? ” 

“ No!” 

“ Why not ? ” 

“ Because the Holy Spirit has been standing 
ready these many days, and perhaps years, to con- 
vict you of sin, but you have shut your heart 
against Him, so that He could not convict you. 
And then, perhaps He knew that you would not 
yield to His promptings, and so He did not con- 
vict you.” 

“ You seem to put the blame entirely on me.” 

“ There is where it belongs.” 

“ If a man is not willing to yield to the prompt- 
ings of the Holy Spirit, what is he going to do ? ” 

“ Have you ever prayed that God mi^ht make 
you willing ? ” 

“ No!” 

“ Are you willing to kneel down here and pray 
that now ? ” 

‘^No, I am not,” said Emmett, defiantly. 

u Well then, if ever you are lost, who is to 
blame ? ” 

Emmett arose with an awful oath upon his 
lips; he walked away saying, “ You can’t scare 
me into heaven. If I go to hell, it’s my look- 
out.” 


CHAPTER X. 


Saturday morning came and George returned 
to the city. All the boys were sorry but Emmett; 
he seemed glad. After he left, the boys re- 
mained in camp one week longer. During this 
time not one word was spoken to Emmett about 
being a Christian. He told them not to speak 
one word to him and they took him at his word. 
Frank Basil, with whom George had an extended 
talk about religion, seemed to be more serious 
than usual, and frequently talked about religion, 
which annoyed Emmett very much. 

George left the camp praying for Frank, for he 
seemed to have obtained the assurance that 
he would be converted, but when he went to 
pray for Emmett it seemed as if his prayers did 
not rise higher than his head. 

When George left it seemed to have unsettled 
the camp. The life and sunshine was gone. 
The week which the boys were going to spend in 
the camp seemed very long. It became a task 
for the boys to stay. If they could have made 
arrangements to get back to town they would 
have gone immediately, but they could get no 
word back to have some one come after them. 


143 


144 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


Arrangements had been made for them to go 
back on Saturday, so they had to remain until 
then. It was a very long week, and when Satur- 
day came they broke camp early in order that 
they might sooner get back to town. 

Monday came and the boys were in their 
places of work as usual. Frank Basil, who was 
waiting to return to college, divided his time be- 
tween George Axtell and Emmett Windom. 
Only a short time before he spent all his time 
with Emmett, but George seemed to have 
partially won him to himself while in camp. 
This distressed Emmett, for Frank had been 
a special friend of his, and he did not like to see 
him won away by “ any of the converted folks. ” 

During the week Will Long, Bert Moore and 
Ralph Hill had agreed to unite with the church 
on Sunday. On that day Frank was at services, 
something very unusual for him. The reception 
of the boys impressed him very much. He 
almost wished that he were with them, but 
he consoled himself for not being by saying, “ I 
can not because of my peculiar notions, or 
‘ honest doubts,’ ” as he called them. The boys 
became very active in church work. They, 
together with George, became the life of the 
church. 

In September Frank returned to college. The 
words which George had spoken to him and the 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


145 


influence which he had over him remained with 
him. It seemed as if the spirit of God was con- 
stantly striving with him, but he fought it all 
down. He had been very skeptical, and was, 
even now. He tried to believe the Bible was 
a foolish tale; that heaven was a fairy land; that 
hell was a scare-crow. But he found no comfort 
in these vain and foolish notions. Every now 
and then there seemed to say to him a still 
small voice, “ But what if the Bible is no idle 
tale; what if heaven is not a fairy land; and 
what if hell is a reality ?” 

Strong convictions of the Christian life 
struggled in his soul, but these he kept down. 
He had gone along in college quietly, but all the 
while he was an inquirer. He said nothing to any 
one; no one said anything to him. The young 
men who were closely associated with him 
noticed that he was more serious than he had 
been the year before. He paraded his skeptical 
notions about less than usual. They knew not 
that at times there were in his breast convictions 
that were almost equal to spiritual convulsions. 

The time for the week of prayer in colleges 
had come; it was observed by the Young Men’s 
Christian Association. In an upper room of the 
building, called the “dorm,” there met daily a 
band of young men who prayed for special stu- 
dents of the college. Frank Basil was one of 


146 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


them. For several days they had prayed ear- 
nestly for him and a number of others in whom 
they were especially interested, but those for 
whom they were praying did not know it. They 
had chosen those for prayer who they thought 
were having a bad influence among the students 
of the college. They chose Frank because of 
his infidelity. 

His conviction grew day by day; they fastened 
themselves upon him more firmly than ever. At 
times it seemed to him that he would have to 
yield to his convictions; but no one spoke to him, 
and they, for a time, subsided. 

But he came to the crisis of his life. One of 
two things had to be done; he either had to yield 
to his convictions, or stamp them out of his life 
forever. He studied very little, save over the 
question of his soul’s salvation. 

It was on Thursday. He left the class room * 
very much depressed in spirit. That evening he 
could not study; that night he could not sleep; 
he tossed to and fro, worrying over — well, he 
scarcely knew what, save that he wondered 
whether the Bible was right, and he was wrong. 
This thought crowded out of his mind all other 
thoughts. He paced the floor, waiting for the 
day. The morning came, but it brought no rest 
for his troubled soul. He seldom went to chapel, 
but this morning finding no rest in his room, 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 1 47 

and being almost like a caged tiger, he decided 
to go. 

On his way to the college he was overtaken by 
Omer Little, one of the most active young men 
in Christian work in the college. He talked to 
Frank, as usual; but he noticed that he was not 
much inclined to talk, as he usually was. He 
walked along for a distance, neither one saying 
anything to the other. Finally Omer said, 
“ Frank, what is the matter ? You seem very sober 
this morning.” 

“ I don’t know, I am sure,” said Frank. “ I 
spent the most miserable night last night I have 
ever spent. I did not sleep a wink. I never 
put in such a night in all my days.” 

“ Why, what was the matter ? ” 

“ Well, to be frank, I am troubled over some 
religious questions. It seems as if the Lord was 
having a controversy with me. I am terribly 
convicted of sin. I felt myself doomed to all 
eternity. All my sins seemed to come up before 
me and they seemed to frighten me. If there is 
any way out of this difficulty, I am sure I would 
like to find it. These several days past have 
been a very hell on earth to me. Something 
will have to be done — I can’t stand this thing very 
much longer.” 

“ I am glad to hear it, Frank.” 

“ Glad to hear it ? What do you mean ? ” 


148 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ Why, I am glad to know that you are terribly 
convicted of your sin. I am glad the Lord is 
showing you your heart. We have been pray- 
ing daily for you in our prayer-meeting in the 
* dorm ’ that God might show you the error of 
your way, that you might turn to Him; for we 
felt that you were having a bad influence over 
the boys on account of your infidelity. I am 
glad the Lord has answered our prayer.” 

“ Well, He must have heard it, for some- 
thing more than human has had hold of me for 
several days.” 

“ You might just as well yield to your convic- 
tions, and give your heart to the Lord, for if 
the Holy Spirit is striving with you, you will find 
no rest until you do yield, or grieve Him; and 
you do not want to do that.” 

“ I am sure, Omer, I am willing to do almost 
anything to be right, if I am wrong.” 

u I will tell you what you do. Come up to our 
prayer meeting at noon. I think you will enjoy 
it, and the boys will be glad to see you; and 
perhaps we can help you.” 

“ I have never been to a prayer meeting in my 
life; but I am willing to go almost anywhere, or 
do almost anything, if I knew that it would help 
me to settle this question.” 

“ Well, you go up with me, and I am sure we 
can help you.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 1 49 

Frank thanked him for the invitation, and 
promised that he would go with him. 

The noon hour came and the band of praying 
fellows were all there with the exception of 
Omer Little. It seemed very strange that he 
was not there, for he never missed; and he 
usually was the first one present. They waited 
a moment, then they heard him coming up the 
stairs, and some one with him. When he 
entered the room, to their great surprise Frank 
Basil stepped in with him. They could not un- 
derstand it. They looked at one another as if 
their faces were an interrogation point. They 
knew not the meaning of Frank’s presence. 

They went on with their meeting; praying for 
the fellows on the list as usual, with the exception 
of Frank Basil. They were afraid of offending 
him by praying for him in his presence. When 
Omer led in prayer, he prayed very earnestly for 
Frank; he seemed to think of no one else. 
When they arose from their knees, Frank 
seemed very much moved; it was the first time 
he had ever shed tears over his lost condition. 
By this time the boys began to realize that 
something more than usual was the matter with 
Frank. 

They dismissed the meeting; but Omer Little 
and Ernest White, who were the most successful 
in dealing with inquirers, remained behind with 


150 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


him. There was no trouble in having Frank 
stay for a talk, for by this time he was so thor- 
oughly under conviction, that he was willing to 
do anything to obtain help. 

Ernest White said to Frank, “ I am sure that 
we are willing and very glad to do anything 
we can to help you. If you want to be a Christ- 
ian, there is no reason why you can not be. 
The Lord is willing, if you are, Frank.” 

“ I am willing to do anything to be right with 
God, and to be at peace with Him,” said Frank. 

“ Well, the Lord has already done His part 
that you may be at peace. He has provided a 
ground for peace and pardon, but you must do 
your part; you must by faith accept what he has 
done, that you may be reconciled to Him.” 

“ Will you not accept Christ, and be saved at 
once ? ” 

“ That is what I want to be,” said Frank, 
wiping the tears from his eyes, and composing 
himself. 

Ernest took the Bible, without which he was 
seldom seen, and rapidly showed Frank the 
promises of salvation; and then urged him at 
once to step right out upon them and forever 
stand there. 

Frank hesitated a moment, and then said, “ I 
am afraid I can not do it just now; I would rather 
think over it a little.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


151 

Ernest took his Bible and a piece of paper and 
a pencil and* noted some of the promises for 
salvation, and asked Frank whether he would not 
take them home and look them up, and see 
whether he could not take his stand upon them. 

u I will if I can,” said Frank. 

“ You need not be afraid,” said Ernest. “ The 
promises of the Lord are yea and amen in 
Christ Jesus.” 

Frank went home to his room; and then he 
thought, “ How can I look up these passages when 
I have no Bible ?” He decided at once to go 
down town and purchase one. When he went 
into the book store a number of the students 
were standing around, and when they saw him 
purchase the Bible they tried to “guy” him; 
but he seemed serious, and paid little attention 
to them. He went back to his room, and began 
to hunt for the promises. It was a difficult task 
for him, for he did not know the location of the 
books, whether they were in the Old or the New 
Testament. But finally, with much difficulty, 
one after the other, he found them. He pon- 
dered over them, he prayed over them; he desired 
that he might accept them. But it seemed that 
the devil — that old adversary of souls — was try- 
ing to deceive him by saying to him, “ How do 
you know that those promises are true ?” It 
came to an issue with Frank; he said to himself, 


152 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ Who shall I believe, this Word or Satan, my 
own foolish notions or the Word of God ?” His 
own foolish notions gave him no fcomfort now; 
for he thought, “ What if they are wrong ? I may 
be mistaken.” 

He fell down upon his knees and prayed, 
“ Oh, God ! I am faithless, I am undone, I am 
lost. There seems to be no hope, but if there is, 
show it to me. Help me to take Thee at Thy 
word.” 

He waited a moment; then he arose and said, 
“ I will stand upon the promises of God and be 
satisfied.” He did it. Immediately there came 
into his soul such an assurance of salvation, and 
such a sense of peace that it almost overcame 
him. When he had recovered himself, he was 
so happy that he could not keep it. Straight- 
way he went to Omer’s room and told him what 
had happened; from there they both went to 
Ernest’s room and they all rejoiced together. 

Frank never did anything half way. He could 
not be a half-hearted Christian; and when he en- 
tered upon the Christian life, he entered upon it 
with all his might. The next day he went to the 
noon prayer meeting, where he joined the other 
boys in praying for the unsaved students in col- 
lege. The conversion of Frank encouraged the 
other boys to continue in prayer. In less than a 
week a revival broke out in the college. The 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


iS3 


fire started in the little room in the “ dorm,” but 
it soon spread throughout the entire college. 
Special meetings were begun and many of the 
students were saved. One night Frank with a 
number of other students pledged himself to the 
Lord’s work, to go if need be into a heathen land, 
to preach the gospel there. 

Soon after his conversion he wrote George 
Axtell a letter. He told him of his conversion, 
and his great joy and peace. He told him how 
his talk while in camp put him to thinking, and 
how dissatisfied he became with himself. “ But 
now,” said he, “ I find great satisfaction in Christ, 
my Savior. He is my ‘ All in all.’” He told 
him how he had dedicated himself to the service 
of the Master; to go if need be to the ends of the 
earth, to tell of the Love of God. He seemed 
to be unable to express his great gratitude to 
George for the interest he had manifested in him, 
and for the words he had spoken to him, which 
unsettled him and landed him in Christ. 

George was overcome by the good news. He 
also yearned that he might some time devote his 
entire time to the service of the Master, for the 
winning of precious souls to Christ. 

On Thanksgiving, Emmett Windom, with a 
number of other young men, went hunting. He 
overheated himself and contracted a fatal cold. 


154 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


He was taken down with a severe case of typhoid 
fever. He grew worse and worse, and for two 
weeks his case seemed critical; but now it was 
hopeless. For a week his life hung in the bal- 
ance, so critically poised that it was difficult to 
tell which way he was going. 

George and the other boys were much con- 
cerned about him. George called upon him, 
but he said nothing to him about religion, for 
Emmett had told him never to say a word to him 
again about religion. He took him at his word, 
and left him alone. George told Emmett that 
he had received a letter from Frank, and that he 
had been converted, and had decided to enter 
the ministry. Emmett expressed great surprise 
at this; but said nothing more. George felt that 
this would have been a good opportunity to have 
said something to Emmett about his eternal wel- 
fare, and down in his heart he yearned to say 
something; but Emmett had bade him never to 
speak to him, so he choked down the words that 
seemed to be crowding to the end of his tongue, 
and said nothing. 

George saw that Emmett was restless, so he 
turned the conversation, by saying, “ Frank will 
be home next week.” 

“ I will be glad to see him,” said Emmett, in 
a low tone of voice. 

“ So will I,” replied George. 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


155 

George saw that he was worried and restless, 
so he concluded that he had better leave. He 
bade him good-bye and left, entertaining grave 
doubts as to whether he would ever see him 
alive again. 

His condition grew worse every hour. The 
doctor forbade anyone seeing him. At times he 
was delirious. Death seemed to be inevitable. 
In his conscious moments, he seemed to have 
streaks of concern; then again he seemed to 
harden himself against the thought of dying. 

On Wednesday Frank returned from « college. 
George met him at the train. When he stepped 
from the train, George said: “ How are you, 
Frank.” 

“ I never was better,” said Frank. 

Frank noticed that George seemed rather 
sober, and, supposing the reason, he asked, 
“ How is Emmett ? ” 

u He is just about at the end,” said George. 
“ They do not think that he will live more than 
a day or so.” 

“ I must see him before he dies.” 

“ I am afraid that you will not get to do so, 
for the doctor has forbidden any one to see him.” 

“ But George, I must see him. I can not 
bear to think of him dying without seeing him.” 

“ I am afraid that he will not live over night; 
and if he does, his condition will be such that it 
will be impossible to see him.” 


156 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


“ But, oh, Frank, I must see him. Let us go 
over to-night and see whether we can not get to 
see him.” 

“ Well, we can go over, but I do not think 
that they will give consent to let you see him, 
for the doctor has given very strict orders about 
letting any one see him.” 

“ Well, let us go over and see, anyway.” 

“All right,” said George, “if you think it 
best.” 

After tea the boys went over to see Emmett, 
but he was very much worse and they could not 
let them in. But Emmett’s mother requested 
them to come back the next day, and if possible 
they might see him. 

During the night he became more composed, 
but he was continually growing weaker and 
weaker. When Emmett learned that Frank had 
been there the night before, he seemed very 
much disappointed that he did not get to see 
him, and expressed a desire to see him. Frank 
was sent for; directly he came. He went into 
the room where Emmett was; he shook hands 
with him and talked with him a moment. He 
could scarcely talk above a whisper, he seemed 
so weak. Frank did not think it advisable to 
say anything to him about his salvation, though 
it was on this account why he was so anxious to 
see him; he could not think of him dying without 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


157 


a Savior. He prayed silently what was best to 
do. Nothing could be heard but the deep 
breathing of Emmett. He motioned for Frank 
to put his ears down to his lips, and then in a 
broken whisper he said, “ Frank, I am glad 
that you have become a Christian, and that you 
are happy.” 

“ Yes! ” said Frank. “ But it breaks my heart 
to think that you are not converted.” 

“ I guess there is no hope for me,” said Em- 
mett despairingly. 

“ Why not ? ” asked Frank. 

“ I have trifled too long. My heart is as hard 
as a rock. I have no concern for my soul. I 
know there must be something in religion, else 
you would not be a Christian; but it is all a 
mockery to me. If religion is true, then I am 
lost. But it is too late now.” 

“ No! No! ” said Frank. “ There is hope for 
you, even now, if you will but turn to God and 
give him your heart.” 

“ There is no hope for me. Once I could have 
been saved, but I would not; now I would, but I 
can not.” 

“ Can you not say, ‘ Here, Lord, I give my- 
self to thee, ’tis all that I can do.' ” 

“Yes, I could say that,” said Emmett in a 
troubled tone, “ but what’s the use, when it all 
seems like mockery to me ? ” 


I 58 A SKILLED WORKMAN 

“ Are you not afraid to die without a Savior, 
Emmett?” 

“ I guess I am doomed. I feel that I am 
damned; but my heart is a stone. It seems as if 
God was mocking me.” 

Frank knew not what to do, so he said to 
Emmett, “ Shall I pray for you ?” 

“ You can if you want to, but it will do no 
good.” 

Frank knelt down and began to pray. He 
had prayed but a short time when Dr. Monroe 
stepped into the room, and saw that Emmett 
was very much excited. Frank arose from his 
knees and stood at the foot of the bed with the 
tears rolling down over his cheeks. The doctor 
was one of those rough fellows who had no re- 
spect for the feelings of any one, and especially 
religious feeling; and with an oath he said to 
Emmett’s mother, “ Did I not give instructions 
not to let any one in the room ? How can you 
ever expect him to get well, unless directions are 
obeyed ? ” 

Frank was overcome with grief, so he bade 
Emmett farewell and left. As Frank held him 
by the hand, he turned his face toward the wall 
and bit his lips to keep back the sobs. As 
Frank went away he said to himself, “ I am 
afraid I will never see him again, either in time 
or eternity.” 


A SKILLED WORKMAN I 59 

The next day he died in a delirious condition; 
but without God and without hope. 

His death, and the manner of it, worried 
George Axtell and Frank Basil. George felt that 
he had done all that he could do for Emmett; but 
he was sorry and oppressed to think that he had 
not yielded to the word of God and been saved. 
Frank felt sad to think that he had not done 
what he might have done for his salvation. The 
thought that he might have been saved if he had 
been a Christian during the encampment, and 
tried to have influenced Emmett to be a Christian 
instead of encouraging him in his trifling, and 
bolstering him up in his foolishness, oppressed 
him. But it was too late now; the door of oppor- 
tunity was closed against him forever, so far as 
influencing Emmett was concerned. He realized 
it, too. It heavily oppressed him. He thought, 
“ Oh! Could I but recall one year, so that I 
might redeem the time which I have wasted, and 
improve the opportunities which I have misap- 
proved. Oh, that I might have an opportunity 
to speak to Emmett, such as I had last summer! ” 
But that summer never came, nor another like it. 
The past was sealed against Frank; but he deter- 
mined that the future should not be wasted, as 
the past had been. 

In closing, let me suggest one lesson to the 
trifling: 


A SKILLED WORKMAN 


160 

From this let us learn that it is a terrible thing 
to harden ourselves against the admonitions of the 
Word; for it will become a “ savor of life unto 
life, or death unto death.” 

It is a terrible thing to say “ No ” to God, when 
He may take you at your word and seal it down 
forever against you. 

It is a critical thing to grieve the Spirit of God, 
and send Him sorrowing away, never to return. 

It is an awful thing to slam the door in the 
Savior’s face, and turn him forever aside. 

It is a foolish thing for a man to take this 
sword of the Spirit, and plunge it into his own 
soul, to his eternal undoing. 

What a warning ought this instance of Em- 
mett’s be to every one who is inclined to trifle 
in the least with the salvation of his soul. 

Learn, that if you say “ No ” to God he may 
take you at your word. That some “ No ” will 
be the fatal and the last one. That God by his 
Spirit will rap some time for the last time. That 
there is such a thing as “ one more straw break- 
ing the camel’s back.” That if you want to be 
left alone, He may leave you alone. That if you 
will not become a Christian when you can, the 
time may come when you have no will to become 
a Christian. Oh, unsaved one! “ Seek ye the 
Lord while He may be found; call ye upon him 
while he is near.” Isaiah lv: 6. 


THE END. 






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